- NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal
judge on Tuesday ordered homemaking icon Martha Stewart to report to prison
in less than three weeks to begin serving her five-month jail sentence
for lying about a suspicious stock sale.
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- Stewart requested last week that she begin serving her
sentence as soon as possible so she could put her "nightmare"
behind her and be home in time to plant her spring garden.
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- Now Stewart, who had been allowed to remain free while
pursuing her appeal, is scheduled to report to prison by 2 p.m. on Oct
8., meaning she should be released by early March.
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- The judge said in court papers released Tuesday she would
recommend Stewart spend her prison time either in the Danbury, Connecticut
federal prison or one in Coleman, Florida.
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- A spokeswoman for Stewart said the trendsetter was "pleased"
the judge set an early date for her surrender, and that she hoped to serve
her sentence at the Danbury facility, which is near her home.
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- Stewart turned a home catering business in her own kitchen
into a media and merchandising powerhouse that boasts TV shows, magazines
and a line of housewares sold at Kmart, emerging as America's best-known
home decorating expert.
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- While her legal problems hit her company hard, its shares
have shot up nearly 30 percent since she said she wanted to begin her sentence
before her appeal was decided.
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- Even before the judge's order, shares of Martha Stewart
Living Omnimedia Inc. traded over 9 percent higher on Tuesday, in part
due to speculation she could retool her TV show with "Survivor"
creator Mark Burnett after her release.
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- They closed at more than 12 percent higher.
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- While both the Danbury and Coleman facilities are minimum
security, they are still far cries from Stewart's usual lifestyle. At her
news conference last week, Stewart said she would miss her dogs, cats,
canaries, horses and chickens.
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- "I hope too that I will be able to begin serving
my sentence in the very near future because I would like to be back as
early in March as possible in order to plant the spring garden," she
said at the time.
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- After her release, Stewart will still have to serve five
months of house arrest, most likely at her home in suburban Bedford, New
York, where she would wear a monitoring device.
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- During a period of supervised release that will follow,
Stewart has been ordered to report to her probation officer and complete
a written report within the first five days of every month.
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- Stewart, who has declared she will make a comeback, was
found guilty in March of conspiracy, making false statements and obstruction
of agency proceedings -- all stemming from her suspicious sale of stock
in biotech company ImClone Systems Inc. on Dec. 27, 2001.
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- The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office, which prosecuted
the case, declined to comment on Stewart's surrender date.
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- Shares in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia closed up $1.64
or 12.45 percent at $14.81 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
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- - Additional reporting by Martha Graybow
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