Martha Stewart leaves federal prison

ALDERSON, W.Va. – Wasting no time, Martha Stewart left prison in the middle of the night Friday and quickly set her sights on rebuilding her homemaking empire after serving a five-month sentence for lying about a stock sale.

Stewart left the prison at 12:30 a.m. Friday in a two-vehicle motorcade and headed to a nearby airport, where she boarded a private jet about 45 minutes later for the hour-long flight to New York. Before boarding the aircraft with her daughter, Alexis, Stewart smiled and waved to reporters and fans.

Gone were her prison khakis – Stewart was dressed in a gray-and-white poncho, dark jeans and ankle boots.

Stewart left the prison in a sport utility vehicle, moments after prison officials announced she had been released. Her vehicle passed by reporters and 15 fans without stopping. About a half-mile from the prison a cardboard sign said, “Goodbye Martha. From fans and friends in Alderson, W.Va.”

Keith Bennett braved the 16-degree temperature to see Stewart leave.

“I don’t care about any of her stuff at Kmart or her flowers. I just think she’s hot for her age,” said Bennett, 43, of nearby Ronceverte.

Stewart, 63, will spend the next five months in home confinement at her 153-acre estate in Katonah, N.Y. She had 72 hours after leaving Alderson to report to corrections officials in New York to be fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet so her movements can be monitored.

Under the terms of her confinement, she will be allowed to leave her compound for up to 48 hours a week for her job, including working on her version of the hit reality TV show “The Apprentice” and continuing her role as creative talent for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. She also will star in a revival of her homemaking show, and her company will resume paying her $900,000-a-year salary.

In the process, Stewart hopes to turn around the fortunes of a company that produces everything from television shows and magazines to bed sheets and bakeware. In 2004, the company suffered a loss and its revenues sagged, but the stock price rose considerably during her prison stint as investors bet on a Martha comeback.

During her time at the federal women’s camp in Alderson, Stewart kept with her lemonade-from-lemons attitude and sought to imprint her style on the prison.

She foraged for dandelions and other wild greens, concocted recipes in a microwave and even ate from a vending machine. She also participated in nightly yoga classes, spent time on crafts and writing and lost weight.

Stewart even took on inmate rights, saying her fellow prisoners risked falling into a “severe depression” because of false hopes raised by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down federal sentencing guidelines. Her own sentence, however, was ruled “reasonable” in light of that ruling.

Stewart’s release came one day shy of the one-year anniversary of her conviction in New York on charges stemming from her 2001 sale of nearly 4,000 shares of the biotechnology company ImClone Systems, run by her longtime friend Sam Waksal.

Prosecutors claimed Stewart received a tip that Waksal was unloading his shares ahead of a negative government report about an ImClone cancer drug. The stock tumbled in the following days, and Stewart saved $51,000 on the sale.

Stewart’s lawyers argued the sale was based on a prearranged agreement with her stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, to sell once the stock dropped to $60 per share.

Stewart was convicted of obstructing justice and lying to the government. Bacanovic is currently serving a five-month federal sentence for his role in the stock deal. Waksal was convicted on a separate charge of insider trading.

The case came in the midst of a federal crackdown on corporate corruption, and Stewart is one of the most prominent figures to serve time in the wave of scandals.

Rebuffed twice in her attempts to obtain new trials, Stewart opted to enter prison early rather remain free pending her appeal.

“I must reclaim my good life,” she said in September, lamenting that she would miss her beloved pets but looking forward to being free in time for her cherished spring gardening.