Martha Packs For W. Virginia
Martha Stewart has been ordered to serve her sentence for lying about a stock sale at the federal prison in Alderson, W.Va, dubbed "Camp Cupcake."
Stewart had asked to serve her five-month sentence in Danbury, Conn., close to her home in Westport, or as a second choice in Coleman, Fla.
But the source, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity, said the federal Bureau of Prisons had instead chosen Alderson, a minimum-security women's prison that houses about 1,000 inmates.
CBS News reporter Kathy Mountcastle reports officials chose Alderson mainly because of its remote location.
Officials thought that Stewart's top choices were already overcrowded and threatened the privacy and security of the inmates because they are too accessible for the media, reports Mountcastle.
Those prisons also had more serious overcrowding issues, a source said. The Coleman prison, for example, is crowded with inmates moved from other Florida prisons because of the recent hurricanes.
A federal judge has ordered Stewart to report to prison by Oct. 8.
Her lawyer had complained that Alderson is not readily accessible because it has no local airports, Mountcastle reports. It is, however, only 20 miles from the Greenbrier, a luxury resort where Martha would probably feel more at home.
A spokeswoman for Stewart did not immediately return a call for comment, and Dan Dunne, a spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons, declined to comment on the decision.
CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen says Stewart is "likely to sleep in a large room with many other female inmates, on the bottom rung of a bunk bed, probably."
"She'll work a regular weekday schedule and then have time off on weekends but obviously it will be a huge change in lifestyles," Cohen reports. "This is inconvenient for her, especially since she has an elderly mother, but of course that is what going to prison is all about,"
Stewart, 63, and former stockbroker Peter Bacanovic were convicted in March of lying to federal investigators about why Stewart sold 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems Inc. stock in December 2001.
They received the same sentence — five months in prison, plus five months of house arrest.
Both were allowed to remain free while they appealed, but Stewart announced plans this month to begin serving her time anyway in order to "reclaim my good life." Her appeal remains alive.
The West Virginia prison opened in 1927 as the first federal prison for women. Located about 270 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, it is known for its open environment. There are no metal fences surrounding the camp.
Like all other inmates, Stewart would be expected to work most of each day. The primary jobs there are grounds maintenance, sanitation and food services. She can earn between 12 cents and 40 cents an hour at these jobs, which begin shortly after a daily 6 a.m. wakeup call, Dunne said.
Inmates at Alderson sleep in bunk beds in one of nine large dormitory-style rooms that house between 26 and 90 inmates per room. There are no individual cells. Lights out is about 8:45 p.m. on weekdays, a bit later on weekends, Dunne said.
Free time can be spent playing volleyball, softball or tennis, or doing aerobics.
Its best-known inmates include Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a member of the Manson family who tried to shoot President Ford, and Sara Jane Moore, who also tried to kill Ford.