Is Martha Stewart the next lucky
contestant going to Club Fed?
 Martha
Stewart mug shot, fingerprints taken quietly
NEW YORK (Reuters) — Martha Stewart has paid a quiet
visit to the FBI's Manhattan headquarters for a low-key mug
shot and fingerprinting session, federal officials said Tuesday.
Federal officials said Stewart, indicted last week for securities
fraud
and lying to federal investigators after she sold shares
in the biotech company Imclone Systems just before the
price fell, was processed Monday and freed without bail.
Stewart,
who built a catering business into Martha Stewart Living
Omnimedia — a
firm that boasts television, magazine, retailing and online
ventures — arrived at the FBI's
downtown office via a street normally closed to traffic.
She was advised of the penalties she would face should she
fail
to show up in court. "
She was here yesterday and she had fingerprints and photographs
taken," an FBI spokesperson said. Typically defendants
must appear in court to listen to rules and procedures and
to sign paperwork.
" It's something we have done in the past. It's not
unusual," a
spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office said of the
discreet way Stewart was processed.The spokesman said
similar arrangements have been made before in high-profile
cases where officials see little
risk of
flight. Stewart may travel freely within America and
can also make
trips overseas if she gives officials 72 hours notice.
Her
quiet appearance at the bureau's office stood in stark
contrast to Stewart's indictment last Wednesday,
which
attracted a media circus.
ImClone founder Samuel Waksal
was sentenced Tuesday to 87 months in prison and ordered
to pay $3 million
in
fines and
$1.26
million in restitution. (Story: Waksal sentenced)
Prosecutors alleged Waksal tried to sell his ImClone shares
before negative news on the company was
released to the
public. Waksal's friend Stewart was dragged into
the investigation when news surfaced that she also
sold
shares before the
bad
news.
Stewart has pleaded not guilty to the charges
against her.
Who is her criminal defense lawyer?
Stewart
has hired Robert Morvillo, of Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Silberberg,
a spokeswoman for the law firm confirmed. Morvillo helped defend brokerage
firm Merrill Lynch & Co. when it faced charges brought by New York Attorney
General Eliot Spitzer related to its analysts' recommendations.
Morvillo joins Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz in New York and Arnold & Porter
in Washington, D.C., as part of Stewart's defense team. Stewart is facing questions
on whether she had insider information when she sold nearly 4,000 shares of
ImClone Systems Inc. stock last December the day before it was revealed that
the Food and Drug Administration was refusing to consider the application for
its key cancer fighting drug. Stewart has denied any wrongdoing in the case.
On Tuesday, the home style guru bowed out of her weekly Wednesday appearance
on CBS's "The Early Show" because of the ImClone scandal. Last week,
the host of the CBS show pressed Stewart for information on the ImClone situation.
The media executive's company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., also hired
public relations firm Brunswick Group this week, a Brunswick spokesman said.
The Susan Magrino Agency will continue to represent Martha Stewart.
While Stewart maintains her innocence and has yet to be charged
with any wrongdoing, her sale of the stock is being examined
by the Justice Department for possible criminal charges, by
the Securities and Exchange Commission for possible securities
violations, and by congressional investigators. Former ImClone
CEO Sam Waksal, a friend of Stewart, is facing federal criminal
charges for allegedly violating securities laws.
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