PEOPLE IN THE NEWS/BREAKING NEWS
THE CONVICTION OF MARTHA STEWART
Domestic Diva or Greed and Corruption Diva?
Stewart found guilty on all counts. Jury finds the style maven guilty on all four counts against her in obstruction of justice trial.
A jury found Martha Stewart guilty on all four counts against her in her obstruction of justice trial Friday. Her ex-broker Peter Bacanovic was found guilty on four of the five charges he faced. The jury deliberated for three days after a five-week trial before reaching its verdict. Sentencing set for June 17.
NEW YORK- CNN reported, a jury found Martha Stewart guilty on all four counts against her in her obstruction of justice trial Friday. Her ex-broker Peter Bacanovic was found guilty on four of the five charges he faced
The
jury deliberated for three days after a five-week trial before reaching its
verdict. The panel of eight women and four men began deliberating Wednesday on
whether Stewart and her ex-broker, Peter Bacanovic, obstructed justice and
lied to the government about her sale of ImClone stock in December 2001.
Stewart, 62, was charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and two
counts of making false statements – charges that together carry a penalty of
up to 20 years in prison. Bacanovic, 41, had been charged with making false
statements, making and using false documents, conspiracy, perjury and
obstruction of justice – with a maximum prison term of 25 years. He was
acquitted on the making and using of false documents charge. Prosecutors
argued that Stewart sold her ImClone stock only after Bacanovic told his
assistant to tip her off that ImClone founder Sam Waksal was trying to sell.
Stewart and Bacanovic had told investigators they had an arrangement to sell
once the stock fell to $60. Bacanovic was broker to both Stewart and Waksal,
who is serving a seven-year prison term after pleading guilty to securities
fraud over his family's sale of ImClone shares. Bacanovic's former assistant,
Douglas Faneuil, the government's star witness in the case, testified that his
boss ordered him to pass an inside tip about ImClone to Stewart. Despite the
intense publicity surrounding the trial – the most closely watched of the
recent corporate fraud cases – the stock trade at its center involved a
relatively small amount of money.
The Prosecutor at the steps of the courthouse: "It is all about lies. It is important for us to protect the system from corruption that infects our society. She lied to FCC and to the FBI. She mocked our system .We do no not tolerate Corruption.
