Martha Stewart - 5 Months Jail ; 2 Years Probation!

[Fingolfin269]

Well, one down, one to go. Martha gets sent to a country club prison for 5 months and the last Enron exec is facing his trial now. If both end up getting off this lightly I'm just going to look for jobs in white collar fraud.

Sorry, no link to the judgement yet. I'll add it when I see one.

 

[daveshel]

5 years would have been more like it.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Blue Light Special

 

[conjur]

Those orange jumpsuits are SO going to clash!

 

[tallest1]

All that hoopla for 5 months? how disappointing...

 

[Moonbeam]

What a ridiculous and absurd waste of my tax payer's money that is. They should have caused her to forfeit the entire proceeds of the stock sale and had her do community service teaching women how to establish and run businesses. I get not a damn thing for her 5 months and could be getting a payback in the form of a better country. Think about it carefully. We have a knee jerk preconceived notion that crime requires punishment in the form of suffering in jail to the tune of thousands a year at our, not the criminal's expense, and for victimless crimes like Martha's, simply on the unexamined notion that her suffering will somehow prevent others from committing the same deed. Isn't going to happen. Stewart had a seat of the stock exchange. She knew the law and she knew the penalty. She run in the same crowd as Leona Helmsley. Did any of that keep her from inside trading. No way, she thought about only one thing, the stock's going down and I'm selling. She didn't need the money, it was peanuts to what she had. It was just an instant and unanalyzed reaction of arrogance. And now I have to support her in jail so the sleeping masses can feel they got their pound of flesh. What a pitiful waste of her talent and abilities. Her reputation, the most important thing she owned, has been ruined. The only penalty that really will cost her has been extracted. She is a felon. She cannot vote. She has been disgraced. Let her pay by using her abilities to benefit society. Lets have a new paradigm for victimless non-violent crime.

 

[TravisT]

What she did was wrong and i'm not trying to condone her actions. But you guys act like what she should have gotten life in prison.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Moonbeam, I partially agree with you. With such a short sentence, one would think they could have added to it by forcing her to teach business classes to other inmates.

 

[DanceMan]

Originally posted by: TravisT
What she did was wrong and i'm not trying to condone her actions. But you guys act like what she should have gotten life in prison.

I'm not condoning it either, but it was her first offense, and for her not committing a murder or something like that, usually will get less than a year. But just think about it, had she just walked in a bank at taken the same amount and gotten caught then, what would her sentence been then?

Wanna bet that after all of this, she will write about it in her next book, and end up making some serious bank off it? Even a movie? I can see it now: Martha Stewart's Living (in Cell Block 4)!

 

[Hossenfeffer]

I can't help feeling that this was some sort of trophy case. Attribute it to my ignorance of the stock trading scene in general, but I get the feeling her kind of actions happen all too often and she's being put under such scrutiny because of her celebrity status.

edit: Not to say I condone what she did.

 

[Thump553]

The ironic thing is that company has rebounded in value. I saw in the paper yesterday that the stock she dumped at approximately $58 per share is now trading in the low to mid-80s. The amount of money involved was chump change to her anyway.

If the publicity involved in this trial helps cut back on insider trading and tips, it will be worth it. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Bitek]

Originally posted by: TravisT
What she did was wrong and i'm not trying to condone her actions. But you guys act like what she should have gotten life in prison.

She is a THEIF. If someone broke into a bank (say at night no guns) and stole $80K and got 5 mos, would you be outraged? Say someone just broke into your house and just stole your TV, wouldn't you be pissed if they only got a 5 mos sentence?

Really what she did was worse, not only did she fully understand the laws she was breaking, but tried to cover up her actions of doing so. Her behavior was even more damaging because it undermines the the public confidence in American stock markets, and ultimately the backbone of the American economy. Would you invest your money into the Chinese stock market. Hell no, because they are rife with corruption and fraud.
By not adequately punishing her you are giving a green light to others to commit such crime. Is she setup as an example? Yes, but she needed to be. These cases are so hard to catch and successfuly prosecute you need to have a strong punishment. Otherwise the message is: Hey you probably won't get caught, but if you do, not much will happen. F' it!

There are people serving 20 yr Federal pound-me-in-ass prison sentances for minor 1st time drug offences, but more dangerous criminals walk unpunished. Had Martha got caught with a joint in NY she would have gotten more time (athough she is rich and white.....)
:disgust:

 

[Shelly21]

You can't compare what she did versus what Enron did.

She got caught lying, as for the insider trading, she made a mistake, the stock she sold is now worth even more.

 

[sandorski]

Ya, this whole case was for someone to place a line on their resume. Yes, she broke the Law, but to turn this into an Enron level scandal is ridiculous. Like Moonbeam, I think a Fine and Community work would be appropriate, except the fine should be some Old Testament Justice. That being, what she gained x2.

 

[desy]

Yep the effort an energy to try and get 'justice' is laughable.
It doesn't even send a good message to greedy CEO's, real crooks are laughing

I'm laughing cause the disproportionate effort to crucify her actions through trial cost several X as much as real legislative reform and money spent on investigations could have accomplished.

 

[Harvey]

I was hoping the judge would tack on an extra ten years for arrogance and hubris. Beyond that, poor, dear Martha is a bore.

 

[naddicott]

Originally posted by: sandorski
Ya, this whole case was for someone to place a line on their resume. Yes, she broke the Law, but to turn this into an Enron level scandal is ridiculous. Like Moonbeam, I think a Fine and Community work would be appropriate, except the fine should be some Old Testament Justice. That being, what she gained x2.

Old testament justice has already been levied and then some, just not through any official hand. Just look at what happened to the value of her businesses. Sales of "Living" have plummetted.

Can't wait for the cover issue: "How to establish dominance, and 10 tips for making the new girl your personal b****".

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Hafen

Originally posted by: TravisT
What she did was wrong and i'm not trying to condone her actions. But you guys act like what she should have gotten life in prison.

She is a THEIF. If someone broke into a bank (say at night no guns) and stole $80K and got 5 mos, would you be outraged? Say someone just broke into your house and just stole your TV, wouldn't you be pissed if they only got a 5 mos sentence?

Really what she did was worse, not only did she fully understand the laws she was breaking, but tried to cover up her actions of doing so. Her behavior was even more damaging because it undermines the the public confidence in American stock markets, and ultimately the backbone of the American economy. Would you invest your money into the Chinese stock market. Hell no, because they are rife with corruption and fraud.
By not adequately punishing her you are giving a green light to others to commit such crime. Is she setup as an example? Yes, but she needed to be. These cases are so hard to catch and successfuly prosecute you need to have a strong punishment. Otherwise the message is: Hey you probably won't get caught, but if you do, not much will happen. F' it!

There are people serving 20 yr Federal pound-me-in-ass prison sentances for minor 1st time drug offences, but more dangerous criminals walk unpunished. Had Martha got caught with a joint in NY she would have gotten more time (athough she is rich and white.....)
:disgust:

Is five months in a country club enough to "restore" you faith in the markets? I don't think so. I wager tons of people would do 5 months for Milkin type of bilking (4 Billion) even less than that.. Marthas is'nt worth a week though IMO.

We should'nt see this as some great justice done to restore markets.. in fact many more walk, plea, and get suspended sentences you don't hear about. Simple fact is stealing gas from a station will net you more time than millions from unsuspecting share holders. A case like this is normally a plea case but since Martha is a public fiqure her prosecution was zealously and publically pursued for the very reasons you state. To restore faith to moms and pops across the land these people arn't running away with thier money by hook or crook. The jury is still out on that.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: naddicott

Originally posted by: sandorski
Ya, this whole case was for someone to place a line on their resume. Yes, she broke the Law, but to turn this into an Enron level scandal is ridiculous. Like Moonbeam, I think a Fine and Community work would be appropriate, except the fine should be some Old Testament Justice. That being, what she gained x2.

Old testament justice has already been levied and then some, just not through any official hand. Just look at what happened to the value of her businesses. Sales of "Living" have plummetted.

Can't wait for the cover issue: "How to establish dominance, and 10 tips for making the new girl your personal b****".

True, I wonder if there will be a video of those 10 tips?

 

[Drift3r]

She will appeal and get 5 months house arrest. Man imagine doing 5 months in one of her homes !!!

 

[rchiu]

Originally posted by: Hafen

Originally posted by: TravisT
What she did was wrong and i'm not trying to condone her actions. But you guys act like what she should have gotten life in prison.

She is a THEIF. If someone broke into a bank (say at night no guns) and stole $80K and got 5 mos, would you be outraged? Say someone just broke into your house and just stole your TV, wouldn't you be pissed if they only got a 5 mos sentence?

Really what she did was worse, not only did she fully understand the laws she was breaking, but tried to cover up her actions of doing so. Her behavior was even more damaging because it undermines the the public confidence in American stock markets, and ultimately the backbone of the American economy. Would you invest your money into the Chinese stock market. Hell no, because they are rife with corruption and fraud.
By not adequately punishing her you are giving a green light to others to commit such crime. Is she setup as an example? Yes, but she needed to be. These cases are so hard to catch and successfuly prosecute you need to have a strong punishment. Otherwise the message is: Hey you probably won't get caught, but if you do, not much will happen. F' it!

There are people serving 20 yr Federal pound-me-in-ass prison sentances for minor 1st time drug offences, but more dangerous criminals walk unpunished. Had Martha got caught with a joint in NY she would have gotten more time (athough she is rich and white.....)
:disgust:

Giveme a break. Who did she steal from? What she did was wrong and she has already paid dearly for her mistake. Yeah she got off light in terms of sentencing, but it was her first offense and she wasn't even convicted of the original crime she was accused of. She has already lost billions and publically humiliated. Even though she is a celebraty, she still has right you know. No one should be punished more severly than the others so that the prosecutors can set an example. If American justice system can freely do stuff like that, that will be much worst than people losing confidence in Stock market.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: Hossenfeffer
I can't help feeling that this was some sort of trophy case. Attribute it to my ignorance of the stock trading scene in general, but I get the feeling her kind of actions happen all too often and she's being put under such scrutiny because of her celebrity status.

edit: Not to say I condone what she did.

I'm coming from the same place of not truly knowing the particulars, and I agree.

I was a PI for 14 years, and one of the first things anyone intimately involved with our criminal justice system will tell you is that there's no real "justice" involved.

 

[Zebo]

Who did she steal from? All Emclone investors who were not privy to her "inside" information and took a wash or sold thier stock less than she did. When someone sells stock, if the sellers are more than the buyers as was the case just days before emclone's FDA judgement, the stock price lowers as a function of supply and demand. Those who had faith and were not privy to her illegal information took a wash. Guess who paid her? The same people who bought in good faith and later sold for undoubtaly less.

This is exactly why SEC regs exist. If they did'nt every officers friends, relatives, and brokers would be rich while the public takes a wash. This trend would'nt last very long and the markets would disappear w/o finacing

 

[rchiu]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Who did she steal from? All Emclone investors who were not privy to her "inside" information and took a wash or sold thier stock less than she did. When someone sells stock, if the sellers are more than the buyers as was the case just days before emclone's FDA judgement, the stock price lowers as a function of supply and demand. Those who had faith and were not privy to her illegal information took a wash. Guess who paid her? The same people who bought in good faith and later sold for undoubtaly less.

This is exactly why SEC regs exist. If they did'nt every officers friends, relatives, and brokers would be rich while the public takes a wash. This trend would'nt last very long and the markets would disappear w/o finacing

Dude, read the news. Steward was not convicted of insider trading, she was convicted of obstruction of justice. Again, who is she exactly stealing from? I am no fan of Steward, and I am not saying she isn't guilty of the crime she was convicted of. But to compare her to Kenneth Lay at Enron, Kozlowski at Tyco or other people who defrauded billions from the investor is just ridiculous. There seems to be people trying to make the case bigger than it is just because who Martha Steward is, and that sets a dangerous precedence. Justice system should not be used to set examples or promote a prosecutor?s career.

 

[DeeKnow]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
What a ridiculous and absurd waste of my tax payer's money that is. They should have caused her to forfeit the entire proceeds of the stock sale and had her do community service teaching women how to establish and run businesses. I get not a damn thing for her 5 months and could be getting a payback in the form of a better country. Think about it carefully. We have a knee jerk preconceived notion that crime requires punishment in the form of suffering in jail to the tune of thousands a year at our, not the criminal's expense, and for victimless crimes like Martha's, simply on the unexamined notion that her suffering will somehow prevent others from committing the same deed. Isn't going to happen. Stewart had a seat of the stock exchange. She knew the law and she knew the penalty. She run in the same crowd as Leona Helmsley. Did any of that keep her from inside trading. No way, she thought about only one thing, the stock's going down and I'm selling. She didn't need the money, it was peanuts to what she had. It was just an instant and unanalyzed reaction of arrogance. And now I have to support her in jail so the sleeping masses can feel they got their pound of flesh. What a pitiful waste of her talent and abilities. Her reputation, the most important thing she owned, has been ruined. The only penalty that really will cost her has been extracted. She is a felon. She cannot vote. She has been disgraced. Let her pay by using her abilities to benefit society. Lets have a new paradigm for victimless non-violent crime.

well it's not like no good will come out of it for the society..

thousands have learned from her case how not to do insider trading...