Nearly a week after her initial request, Martha Stewart has been ordered to begin serving her sentence by October 8 after being convicted of insider trading.
U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum sentenced Stewart to five months in prison in July, but allowed Stewart to remain out of prison while she appealed her conviction.
Cedarbaum said Stewart must surrender for prison by 2 p.m. on Oct. 8. A five-month term would place Stewart's release in early March - in time, as Stewart said last week, for spring planting season.
Publicists for Stewart said in a statement that she was pleased the judge had set an 'early date' for her to begin serving her sentence.
Getting Comfortable The U.S. Bureau of Prisons must now decide where Stewart will serve her time. The judge recommended that Stewart is assigned to a prison facility in Danbury, Conn., or Coleman, Fla. - the two locations she requested last week. Stewart’s first choice, the minimum-security facility in Connecticut, is close to her home in Westport.
Dan Dunne, a spokesman for the bureau, said both the Connecticut and Florida facilities are above their 'rated capacity.' But he said that does not rule out either one.
'The bureau will make the appropriate designation based on the offender's particular situation,' Dunne said.
Showing up for Duty Dunne said most prisoners surrender on the actual deadline date, but some report in days leading up to it.
Last week, Stewart asked the judge to allow her to begin serving her time, saying she wanted to 'reclaim my good life' and put the ordeal behind her and her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.
After the five-month term, Stewart still must serve five months of house arrest.
Stewart still plans to appeal her conviction. She and former stockbroker Peter Bacanovic were convicted in March of lying about why Stewart sold ImClone Systems Inc. stock in 2001.
By the Numbers Shares in Martha Stewart Living rose on Tuesday’s New York Stock Exchange by $1.18, about 9 percent, to $14.35. The stock had been trading around $19 per share before the stock scandal.
