Posted on 07/16/2004 7:35:46 AM PDT by wagglebee
NEW YORK - Martha Stewart was sentenced Friday to five months in prison and five months of home confinement for lying about a stock sale.
Just before her sentence was pronounced, Stewart asked the judge to "remember all the good I have done."
"Today is a shameful today. It's shameful for me, for my family and for my company," she said.
U.S. District Court Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum noted that she had sentenced Stewart on the bottom of the confinement range.
Too bad for her that Willie Clinton isn't still President.
She could have promised him a blow-job and gotten a get-out-of-jail-free pardon.
If you followed the case closely I will defer to you on details. I was under the impression she had deleted some computer files, then restored them.
As for lying during questioning, I wonder how many people go to jail for this. She was arrogant to allow herself to be questioned without counsel. As a potential juror, I doubt if I would convict someone of a felony for lying under questioning. That strikes me as one of those targeted prosecutions, a designer prosecution, a one-off.
That's not the America I want to live in.
Would you lie about it? Would you lie to federal authorities about it?
Would you knowingly and intentionally lie to the investors in your company to prop up your stock price?
Had she apologized initially, she'd just got a slap on the wrist. To late now.
She was with her lawyer John Savarese and one of his associates at the FBI meeting in which she perjured herself to investigators. She had counsel.
Now that part I agree with. She could have pleaded this thing to nothing. That was her mistake.
So she was under oath?
I wouldn't have to because they wouldn't come after me for the same thing. That's my point. They wanted a trophy on the wall, pure and simple.
IMO a small fine - with the proceeds directed to a charity, community service and probation would have been satisfactory - with all proceeds from speaking engagements, lectures and GMA interviews coming to me so I can load up on doritos and mellowyellow
My broker does does not call me with non public information.
In order for markets to be fair they have to "arms length" transactions
Some little guy read all the stock reports did his due diligence and lost on IMCLONE probably a much greater % risk than Martha because he did not have that information.
Insider trading rules while nebulous and have many gray areas of contention, should be heavily enforced to protect all
Thank goodness she is going to be going to jail. I feel so much safer now.
The only reason prosecutors pursued this weak case was because they wanted Martha Stewart's head on their career pike. If Joe Schmoe lies to the cops and that's all they have on him, no cop would even bother taking the case to the prosecutor.
If lying to the cops is that big a deal, then why did BUBBA get away with lying under OATH??
Selective prosecution stinks. It isn't any less unfair for Stewart than for Rush.
To add: She worked in a boiler room operation where she was a top producer. That firm was convicted for defrauding investors. She is far from Lily white. More of a shark IMHO
Did you even watch the Martha Stewart trial, or read about what she did??
FIRST: As a licensed stockbroker (former), Martha Stewart got what she knew was an illegal insider tip from Merrill Lynch, who relayed the fact that the president of IMclone (her good friend by the way) was dumping his stock because the new cancer drug was not approved by the FDA.
Instead of telling her stockbroker or the Imclone CEO that HE was violating client confidentiality, Martha Stewart then sold thousands of shares in order to avoid taking a loss she would have when all the small people like you and me in the PUBLIC got the news normally.
Then, when the SEC questioned her stock dump, Martha tried to ERASE the trade on her office computer, which obviously demonstrated the fact she knew she had done something illegal. (Of course Martha changed the computer entry back the minute her secretary questioned it)
Fourthly, Martha then got together with her stockbroker, etc. to "get their stories straight." Unfortunately, that ruse fell through when the young stockbroker assistant (forget his name) felt guilty and came clean to SEC-Justice Dept. investigators.
No my friend. Martha, just like other devoted liberals, thinks that SHE should be entitled to make money through connections and insider tips while us smaller people still struggling to make our families secure should simply get the informational crumbs.
Most brokers don't. But in a social situation with a broker, if in casual conversation he or she says something about a stock or company that could make me or anybody else some money I think I would act on it. I'm no defender of insider information. I'm just trying to be fair here and look at what I or most other people would do in the same situation.
Yes, she was under oath in the FBI office.
Agreed
All brokers are trained and Know the Law And part of that training includes causal conversations and social situations.
They were both brokers and both Knew they were breaking the law.
I have had some securities training and it is taught with vigor and known to all without question. To pretend ignorance does not fly
The bold words explain why the heavy enforcement is not possible. In any case, she was never charged with insider trading.
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