MARTHA STEWART INDICTED BY FEDERAL GRAND JURY

ABC News ^ | June 4, 2003 | Charlie Gibson

[ewing]

Update as of 11:49 EST:

June 4

— Martha Stewart has been indicted by a federal grand jury and is expected in court today, ABCNEWS has learned.

She and her attorney are expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan around noon today.

Stewart, 61, is under investigation for selling 4,000 shares of biotechnology company ImClone shortly before the Food and Drug Administration rejected the company's application for approval for a drug for colon cancer, sending the company's stock plummeting.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan and investigators at the Securities and Exchange Commission have been looking into whether Stewart had advance word of the news. Stewart is friends with ImClone founder Samuel Waksal, who is expected to be sentenced for criminal fraud on Tuesday.

Stewart's lawyer, Robert Morvillo, has said that she will declare her innocence and proceed to trial if she is indicted.

Among the criminal charges Stewart might face are obstruction of justice, lying to federal investigators and possibly insider trading. She may also face a civil lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission for securities fraud.

The scandal has put a cloud over the domestic doyenne's empire over the past year.

[mabelkitty]

YES! Knock "Lying History" OFF THE PAGES!!

[Registered]

...meanwhile the K-MART advertising department works feverishly to change this Sunday's insert.

[bonfire]

Wonder if she will bring her homemade cranberry muffins to the jury?

[js1138]

YES! Knock "Lying History" OFF THE PAGES!!

This could suck all the Oxygen out of Hillary.

[Thane_Banquo]

Excellent.

[js1138]

Or all the Hillary out of Oxygen.

[Stone Mountain]

MARTHA SWEWART INDICTED BY FEDERAL GRAND JURY

And that's a good thing... : )

[bonfire]

No K-Marts here. They closed them all down.

[ewing]

This thing might suck the oxygen out of the Peterson case, Martha is claiming 'Vast Right Wing Conspiracy' and WANTS to go to trial..

[b4its2late]

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning......"

[ewing]

How about Tiffany handcuffs?

[Salvation]

She will get what she deserves.

[Thane_Banquo]

"Smells like... Victory!"

[ewing]

It's the smell of a publicity victory over Hillary.. early in the monring baby!

[veronica]

You know, she's a mean Mary, and she should have known better, but indicting her is absurd. She's being punished for her success - for being insufferably perfect and rich. On the other hand, the evil side of me would love to see Oprah in her shoes. Oprah's too big for her britches these days, and so smarmy to boot. :)

[dogbyte12]

I bet she knits a seat cover for the john in her cell within a week.

[Xenalyte]

Might you please fix the jailbird's surname in the title so searches pick it up? Many thanks!

[job]

For someone who has a tagline loaded with religous paraphenalia, seems like you of all people would know that we all should get what we deserve. And in God's eyes, Martha's transgressions are no more egregious than our own, committed every day. By God's grace and mercy, we don't get what we deserve.

[ewing]

And America is popping the popcorn right now to watch the trial..