After two years in court, Martha is going to the big house, pending appeal of course. The Domestic Diva has been found guilty on four counts of obstruction of justice today, as a jury of her peers (well ok, few if any were actually her peers, we'll call them near peers) decided she had done wrong and should be punished. They were even more disgusted with her stock broker, finding him guilty on four of the five counts he faced.
While she could face up to twenty years in jail, US legal experts figure she will most likely end up with a one year sentence, consisting of six months of jail time and six months of halfway house attendance, home detention or parole. The verdict brings the homemakers' guru down to earth in a spectacular freefall, at one time ruling the television and publishing world with her various works. At her high point, it was estimated her value was over 1 billion dollars, as the insider trading scandal evolved her value dropped, reportedly at 300 million dollars, prior to todays announcement.
It's not known how her company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia will survive, now that she's classified as a felon. In fact the stock was issued a stop trading order today, as the New York Stock exchange attempeted to keep things in order. We can also expect a flurry of civil suits to be filed, now that her legal standing has been established.
It's unknown what her own personal wealth is at the moment, but rest assured she has probably saved for a rainy day. So while jail may not be a good thing, it certainly isn't going to leave her penniless upon parole. Sentencing is to take place on June 17th, but expect that her lawyers will be busy working on her appeals. To the end Martha remains determined, posting on her Martha Talks website today a sense of disappointment in the result. But a vow to continue on to clear her name, which for her lawyers is decidedly a Good Thing.
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