Crossword Genius

Prisoner I found in capital city initially trained as a sort of thief (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

plagiarist

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'a sort of thief' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'prisoner i found in capital city initially trained' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'prisoner' could be 'lag' (I've seen this before) and 'lag' is located in the answer.
'i' could be 'a' and 'a' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'as' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for plagiarist that I've seen before include "Literary pirate" , "sort of thief" , "One copying" , "Stealer of others' work" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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