Martha Stewart Sentenced To Prison

"I don't want to use this as a sales pitch for my company, but we love that company, we've worked so hard . . . and we really think it merits great attention from the American public," she said.

Stewart then promised, "I will be back." Stewart has asked to serve her prison time in Danbury, Conn., and home confinement in Bedford, N.Y.

Later in the day, Stewart posted on the Web site a letter she had written to Cedarbaum, a video-recorded statement and a note to fans that called the sentence "horrendous . . . but not unexpected." She added, "I am not afraid of what the future holds."

Stewart's case has been one of the highest-profile and most hotly debated white-collar crime cases ever since news of the insider trading investigation became public in June 2002. Her supporters said she was unfairly singled out because of her celebrity and because of bias against female executives. Prosecutors said they brought the case because no one could be allowed to interfere with a federal investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Patton Seymour echoed that view at Friday's hearing, when she urged Cedarbaum not to make a special exception for Stewart, as defense lawyers had asked, and go below the recommended minimum sentence.

"This is a serious offense and it has broad implications for the administration of justice," Seymour said. "The sentence should also reflect the even-handedness of our criminal justice system."

During the five-week trial, prosecutors contended that Stewart unloaded 3,928 ImClone shares because Bacanovic's assistant Douglas Faneuil improperly tipped her that the company's founder, Samuel D. Waksal, was trying to dump his stock. Bacanovic and Stewart told investigators that they had previously arranged to sell the stock if the price fell below $60, which it did on the day she sold. Faneuil pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and became the government's star witness. He is scheduled to be sentenced next week.

The trial shed an unflattering light on Stewart, who was described by witnesses as rude to subordinates and penny-pinching to the point of trying to bill her company for haircuts and weekend trips.

Her lawyer Robert G. Morvillo referred to the negative publicity as he asked Cedarbaum to grant his client probation.

"The punishment should fit the crime," Morvillo said. "Here, unlike so many white-collar cases, no one has lost money, no fraud occurred. . . . [Stewart] has been scorned, ridiculed and become the butt of all forms of derogatory publicity. . . . Her assets have been substantially depleted."