A federal jury today found Westport’s Martha Stewart guilty of lying to investigators over a suspicious stock sale.
Stewart, 62, stood stone still in the courtroom and showed no emotion as she heard the verdict, which ended a seven week trial. She later said she would appeal.
Martha with Paw Paw and Tutu on steps of her Westport home. Marthatalks.com photo
She remains free but was ordered to report to the Probation Department Monday.
The eight women and four men returned their verdict on the third day of deliberations. Stewart was found guilty of one count of conspiracy, two counts of making false statements and one count of obstruction of agency proceedings.
Wearing a black pantsuit, Stewart solemnly left the courthouse among a throng of hundreds of people and a small group chanting “We Love you Martha.”
She will be sentenced on June 17. Each count carries a possible prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine, although legal experts believe Stewart will receive a sentence of less than five years, perhaps only 18 months, based on federal sentencing guidelines.
In the trial, related to her suspicious sale of stock in biotech company ImClone Systems Inc., her co-defendant, former stockbroker Peter Bacanovic, was found guilty on four of five counts. His lawyer said he will appeal.
Sources said that after the verdict, Stewart retired to an upstairs anteroom in the courthouse and hugged Bacanovic, the Daily News reported.
Her lawyer, Robert Morvillo, told her, “We failed you and I’m sorry,” another source said.
One of the jurors, Chappelle Hartridge, told reporters that the panel felt Stewart’s background as a stockbroker played a part in the verdict.
“She should have known her moves were illegal,” he said.
He said he also believed the verdict “was a victory for the little guy who loses money in the market because of this kind of transaction. It sends a message to bigwigs in corporations they have to abide by the law. No one is above the law.”
Stewart worked briefly as a stockbroker before starting a home catering business that spawned her media empire.
As the judge polled the jurors individually, Stewart looked from juror to juror, glancing down at the verdict sheets and tossed her hair from her eyes but remained stoic.
Her daughter Alexis slumped in her front row seat and put her head in her hands as her mother was found guilty.
This is GREAT, Hope she likes Danbury…….