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Non-Tech : Martha Stewart -- Scourge or Scapegoat -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John J. O`Reilly who wrote (102)	3/7/2004 11:59:19 AM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 165

Prosecutors Offered Martha Stewart a Deal Last April: Cop To One Count of Making a False Statement and Receive Probation and Continue to Work at Omnimedia, Sources Say She Refused to Plead Guilty to a Felony prnewswire.com NEW YORK, March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Newsweek has learned that the Feds gave Martha Stewart an opportunity to avoid prison. Federal prosecutors offered Stewart a deal last April to cop to one count of making a false statement, say several sources familiar with the offer. She would have received probation and could continue working at her company, they say. But she refused to plead guilty to a felony, and a defense source says the Feds couldn't guarantee she would stay out of jail. And federal investigators say she could have avoided the entire mess if she had confessed in the beginning. Had she admitted wrong doing in early 2002, she could have gotten off with a $200,000 fine and no jail time, report Detroit Bureau Chief Keith Naughton and Special Correspondent Barney Gimbel in the March 15 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, March 8). After a seven week trial, the jury deliberated for three days before convicting Stewart on all four counts. One juror sobbed as the judge ticked off all the guilty counts. Martha's daughter, Alexis, doubled over in tears in the front row of the gallery. Alexis's husband John Cuti, also one of Martha's lawyers, buried his face in his hands at the defense table. Stewart stared straight ahead, showing no emotion. Martha Stewart's case may set the new standard for judging fat cats who don't play by the rules, write Naughton and Gimbel. "We're now going to see the 'Martha test' as a fair punishment for white-collar crimes," says Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, associate dean of the Yale School of Management. "This is going to have a strong influence on jurors from here on out." And legal experts say she'll likely go to prison for one to three years, probably at a minimum- security "prison farm." (Read Newsweek's news releases at newsweek.msnbc.com. Click "Pressroom" at the bottom of the page.)