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More ImClone Mess for Martha
Martha Stewart may want to make room in her closet. Another poncho could be on its way.
Despite having done the time, the domestic diva still needs to deal with the fallout from the crime. She faces a Thursday deadline to respond to the charges in a civil suit that she was privy to insider information before ditching a lion's share of ImClone Systems stocks in 2001.
Stewart spent five months in prison in 2004 over criminal charges from the case after she was found guilty of lying to prosecutors over the sale. Proceedings in the civil suit were postponed while the criminal side played out, with prosecutors only lifting the stay last month.
According to the New York Times, Stewart has until the end of Thursday to decide whether to plead not guilty, as she has done from the investigation's outset. This means contesting the Securities and Exchange Commission's accusations of insider trading and trying her darndest to clear her of-late tarnished name.
Should she successfully defend her case, she could also be reinstated as Chairwoman and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, positions she was forced to leave following her criminal conviction two years ago.
If the talk show hostess does plead innocent, preparations for a civil trial will likely begin immediately with Stewart expected to give a deposition right away. Which is likely the route the one-woman empire will take.
According to the NYT, at a hearing at Manhattan's Federal District Court last month, Stewart's lawyer, Martin Seidel, called the S.E.C.'s allegations "novel claims" that were "ripe" for contesting.
Stewart's legal woes started when she sold off 4,000 shares of ImClone stocks in December 2001, a day before the biotech company went public with damaging news that the feds were giving the thumbs-down to its new cancer drug, thus plummeting the worth of its stocks.
As it stands, should Stewart choose not to settle by day's end and instead sit for a deposition, it's unclear what tact she may take. According to the paper, she faces two options: Stewart could stick with her original story, despite the fact that a criminal jury already dismissed as bunk the notion that she had an agreement to sell her stocks prior to receiving the information, or she could cop to the trade but argue there was nothing illegal about it.
Stewart has maintained from the get-go that she traded on public information that was neither illegal nor inside.
However, should Stewart go to trial and lose, her punishment this time around wouldn't see her facing any more time behind bars.
The domestic diva would likely face a sizable penalty but would still retain her position as editorial director of her company.
Which would still be a pretty good thing.
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