NEW YORK, Nov 23 (AFP) - Jailed US lifestyle guru Martha Stewart said she is "safe, fit and healthy," but finds the prison's lack of privacy tough.
For lying about a dodgy stock sale, Stewart, 63, was sentenced to serve five months in a minimum-security prison, which inmates have dubbed "Camp Cupcake."
In a Thanksgiving holiday message posted on her website, Stewart thanked supporters for the thousands of e-mails and letters she has received since entering the federal facility in West Virginia last month.
"I want you to know that I am well," Stewart said.
"As you would expect, the loss of freedom and the lack of privacy are extremely difficult. But I am safe, fit and healthy," she said, adding that her daily interactions with staff and fellow inmates were marked by "fair treatment and mutual respect."
"In short, I am in good spirits and making the best of this difficult situation," she added.
The multimillionaire founder of the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia lifestyle empire was convicted in March of lying to federal agents investigating her sale of nearly 4,000 shares in biotechnology company ImClone Systems.
Prosecutors charged that Stewart had been tipped off by her broker Peter Bacanovic to sell her ImClone stock in late 2001, just before a government announcement about an ImClone drug sent the share price plummeting.
Stewart and Bacanovic had claimed that they had a pre-existing agreement to sell the stock if the price dropped below 60 dollars a share.
After she is released from prison, Stewart will also have to undergo five months of home confinement.
11/23/2004 21:15 GMT - AFP