Martha Stewart, who built a billion-dollar media empire was, on Friday, sentenced to five months in prison and a $30,000 fine for lying to US federal authorities investigating her sale of stock in a friend's company.
New York District Court Judge Miriam Cedarbaum also ordered that Stewart get five months of home detention and two years of supervised probation after she is released.
Shortly after the 30-minute hearing ended, Stewart appeared before television cameras outside the courthouse and appealed to people to subscribe to her magazine and buy her products.
Stewart said it was a "shameful day" for her, adding that during her legal journey "the personal attacks spread like oil over a vast landscape" and she had "felt suffocated to death."
Stewart's attorneys said they have 10 days to file their motion for an appeal.
Stewart was convicted on March 5 of lying to the US government about her sale of about 4,000 shares of ImClone Systems in December 2001. The 62-year old founder of Martha Stewart Omnimedia was convicted on all four counts in the obstruction of justice case.
Born on August 3, 1941 at Nutley in New Jersey, Stewart's interests spanned from stockbroking to catering to publishing. Stewart published her first book, Entertaining, in 1982. Time Inc. began publishing Martha Stewart Living magazine in 1991. Syndicated TV show Martha Stewart Living began airing in 1992.
In 1997, Stewart bought her business away from Time and named it Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. The company became public in 1999. Stewart resigned as chairman and CEO on June 4, 2003, but remained on the board and as chief creative officer. Then on March 5, as the controversy erupted, she resigned from the board. Now she holds the title of founding editorial director.
Martha Stewart exits court after the sentencing phase of her conviction on a stock-trading scandal July 16, 2004 in New York City. Stewart was sentenced to five months in federal prison, 2 years probation and 30,000 dollars in fines. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
