Martha Stewart is paying for her crime – $30,400, to be exact.
That’s the financial penalty and fee imposed on Stewart as part of her conviction and sentence for lying about her well-timed sale of ImClone stock.
But it’s chump change for the multimillionaire diva of domesticity, who has spent a much bigger chunk of her fortune on defense lawyers in her blockbuster criminal case.
Court papers filed yesterday reveal Stewart paid the fine as she prepares to surrender for a five-month stay at federal prison in Alderson, W. Va. Her report date to “Camp Cupcake” is Friday.
Manhattan federal Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum urged the celebrity homemaker to “immediately” pay the $30,000 fine – plus $400 “special assessment” – in a Sept. 21 order that approved Stewart’s request to voluntarily serve her sentence while her appeal is being heard.
Stewart could have remained free pending her appeal, but decided to “put this nightmare behind me.”
Indeed, the next five months will be humbling for Martha, who will be known by her inmate registration number: 55170-054.