Martha Stewart is looking back on her five-month prison sentence, served between 2004 and 2005 following her conviction in a stock trading scandal. The 85-year-old told People magazine that her time "behind bars" gave her "street cred," adding, "you would never know what jail was like until you go to jail."
Stewart was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to federal investigators. She was sentenced in July 2004 and served her time at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) in Alderson, West Virginia, a facility often referred to as "Camp Cupcake." Stewart described the minimum-security prison as "a horrible place" and stated it was "not a restorative process."
The Alderson facility is a 159-acre campus with no barbed wire fencing, offering inmates access to recreational activities such as ceramics and gardening. Stewart was housed in one of the facility's "mansions," which featured rooms with bunk beds for two inmates and was designated for new inmates and those serving shorter sentences.
Reports from a former prison peer, Lisa Guarino, suggested Stewart was not always compliant during her sentence. Guarino told the Daily Mail that Stewart had been written up for attempting to take sugar packages from the prison kitchen and for picking crabapples from the prison's trees to make jam, describing the fruit as "contraband product."
Stewart's prison sentence concluded in March 2005. Over 20 years later, Stewart continues her public life, recently celebrating her 85th birthday in Maine with elaborate dinner parties featuring dishes from local produce and her gardens.