Posted on 10/08/2004 9:34:17 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Martha Stewart Reports to Jail to Begin SentenceFri Oct 8, 2004 11:17 AM ET
By Larry Downing
ALDERSON, W.Va. (Reuters) - Trendsetter Martha Stewart arrived at a minimum-security prison known as "Camp Cupcake" under cover of early morning darkness on Friday to serve a five-month sentence for lying about a stock sale.
Stewart, one of the America's best-known personalities, was subjected to a strip search on arrival and had to squat and cough hard to check for hidden contraband, Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Carla Wilson said.
For the next five months, she will be known as prisoner No. 55170-054.
Stewart, who built and ran the publicly traded company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., arrived about eight hours in advance of 2 p.m. -- the time she had to report to the country's oldest federal prison for women.
"At approximately 6:15 a.m., Martha Stewart arrived at the Federal Prison Camp, Alderson, West Virginia, for service of her sentence," a Federal Bureau of Prisons statement said.
Stewart told her fans through her Web site, "By the time you read this, I will have reported to ... begin serving my five-month sentence."
The former chief executive, who vows to make a comeback, was found guilty in March of conspiracy, making false statements and obstruction of justice -- all stemming from her suspicious sale of stock in biotech firm ImClone Systems Inc. on Dec. 27, 2001.
Stewart's vehicle sped past a throng of more than 80 reporters, many of whom had camped out overnight awaiting her arrival, and she made no statement before going inside.
REGIMENTED LIFE
Stewart, who made millions telling Americans how to bake pies, organize cupboards and tend rose bushes, will now lead a regimented life.
She will share a cubicle with another woman -- many inmates are poor and convicted of drug possession -- and she will not be allowed to conduct any business.
Inmates rise at 6 a.m. and eat a breakfast of toast and cereal and then work as janitors, kitchen aides or groundskeepers for 7.5 hours. The 63-year old entrepreneur will be paid between 12 cents and 40 cents an hour for her labor.
Lunch is cold sandwiches. Dinner, hot and loaded with starchy foods, is served at 5 p.m. Then Stewart can play volleyball, softball or tennis or watch TV until 8.45 p.m. when she must return to her cubicle until lights out at 11.30 p.m.
Located 270 miles southwest of Washington and opened in 1927, locals call the facility "Camp Cupcake" because it houses non-violent offenders, looks like a college campus and has no bars, locked doors or razor wire.
Stewart built a home catering business into a media empire including television shows, magazines, books and a line of housewares sold at Kmart stores and became one of America's best-known business women.
She maintains her innocence and says she will pursue an appeal of her conviction. But she said she decided to serve her sentence now "to put this nightmare behind me as quickly as possible for the good of my family and my company."
Once she completes the prison portion of her sentence, she faces an additional five months of house arrest.
Stewart resigned as chairman and chief executive of her company in June 2003. Her firm has been hard hit by her legal woes, sending revenues lower.
Shares of Stewart's namesake company slipped more than 4 percent in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Still, the stock has risen more than 40 percent since Stewart announced on Sept. 15 that she would begin serving her prison sentence -- something investors hope will see her return to the helm of the company quickly.
Martha goes to jail for telling a lie under oath but Sandy Berger
is out partying and God knows what he did with the information
he had access to.
Dittos for THIS creep who oughta be behind bars as well:
While Martha got the sentence that I think was pretty fair and just, I would gladly swap her sentence for clintoon going to the slammer. But for 5 YEARS and doing HARD time.
Get ready for the strip search Martha.
I never have liked MS. (Too perfect for my comfort). She's gutzy though. I'm starting to feel some admiration for her. Not enouh to watch her cook or buy her magazine but I like the way she is keeping her head high.
As Jay Leno said...OJ SIMPSON IS HAVING A GOOD LAUGH ABOUT THIS ONE.
Devious....no?
Why can't she still run her own company, even if convicted?
I started to soften up on Martha the morning of her sentencing.Then, after she got the 5 months (which I thought was fair), she did that big MSL PROMO in front of the TV cameras and was spewing so about the sytem / prosecutors / whatever, that I took a step back and lost any sympathy for her. She is an arrogant and remorseless liar, imho .....
ha!!:^)
Yep. Deciding to do the time and put it behind her is about
the only thing she's done right regarding her case, imho.
After she does her 5 months and is out, she can go back
to running her company is my understanding .....
Some pesky laws against it or something. I don't think she can vote anymore either. Darn (she gave $$ to the Dims)
If she wins her appeal can she sue for being in prison?
SPOTTED: Martha Stewart, 63, due to begin her five-month prison sentence this week, spent the weekend vacationing at the Ocean Club Hotel on the Bahamas' Paradise Island and was photographed stepping out of the surf in a one-piece black bathing suit. The domestic diva – soon to be No. 55170-054 at a federal prison facility in Alderson, W. Va. – spent Saturday night at the wedding reception of her longtime publicist Susan Margrino.
I can't really blame her though for being prideful and arrogant right now. It's probably what is keeping her going. (I can't believe I'm posting this lol). IMO, She's going to jail as an example, while others who may have done worse walking around free. That would make me angry too. I laughed when she was plugging her magazine on the courthouse steps.
ha! :^D
hahaha!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
