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Martha Stewart Leaves Federal Prison
Martha Stewart Leaves Prison After Serving a Five-Month Sentence for Lying About a Stock Sale
Martha Stewart is shown in New York in this July 16, 2004, file photo. From scrubbing floors to raking leaves, Stewart spent the past five months performing the sort of tasks ordinarily done by the hired help. That could all come to an end as early as Friday, March 4, 2005, when the foremost authority on gracious living gets out of prison in time for the spring gardening season. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, File)
By
The Associated Press
ALDERSON, W.Va. Mar 4, 2005  Wasting no time, Martha Stewart left prison in the middle of the night Friday and quickly set her sights on rebuilding her homemaking empire after serving a five-month sentence for lying about a stock sale.
Stewart was allowed to leave prison at 12:30 a.m Friday in a two-vehicle motorcade and headed to a nearby airport where she was to board a private jet for a flight to New York. She will spend the next five months on home confinement at her 153-acre estate in Katonah, N.Y.
A sport utility vehicle carrying Stewart drove through the prison gate past reporters and about 15 fans without stopping. About a 1/2 mile from the prison a cardboard sign said, "Goodbye Martha. From fans and friends in Alderson, W.Va."
Keith Bennett braved the 16-degree temperature to see Stewart leave.
"I don't care about any of her stuff at Kmart or her flowers, I just think she's hot for her age," said Bennett, 43, of nearby Ronceverte.
Stewart, 63, had 72 hours after leaving Alderson to report to corrections officials in New York to be fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet so her movements can be monitored.
Under the terms of her confinement, she will be allowed to leave her compound for up to 48 hours a week for her job, including working on her version of the hit reality TV show "The Apprentice" and continuing her role as creative talent for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. She also will star in a revival of her homemaking show, and her company will resume paying her $900,000-a-year salary.
In the process, Stewart hopes to turn around the fortunes of a company that produces everything from television shows and magazines to bed sheets and bakeware. In 2004, the company suffered a loss and its revenues sagged, but the stock price rose considerably during her prison stint as investors bet on a Martha comeback.
During her time at the federal women's camp in Alderson, Stewart kept with her lemonade-from-lemons attitude and sought to imprint her style on the prison.
She foraged for dandelions and other wild greens, concocted recipes in a microwave and even ate from a vending machine. She also participated in nightly yoga classes, spent time on crafts and writing and lost weight.
The American domestic diva  was today released from prison after a five-month stint at the  in . She will continue the rest of her sentence with an electronic tag for the next five months under house arrest. 

Martha Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison, a further five months under tag and fined 30,000 for charges of conspiracy and obstruction stemming from  in  shares after the company's wonder drug  lost its  licence.