Martha Stewart, the multi-millionaire television star, corporate executive and New York socialite, may yet trade in her designer suits for plain prison khakis after being sentenced to five months in jail and five months’ house arrest for her part in an insider-trading scandal.

Ms Stewart will also spend two years on probation, which will include the term under house arrest.

But it is unlikely that Stewart — known as the “Domestic Diva” in America for her cookery and interior design books, magazines and television shows — will be sent to jail in the next year as she was granted bail pending appeal.

Stewart was found guilty in March of lying during an investigation into insider dealing in shares of ImClone, a drug company controlled by her friend Sam Waksal.

The 2½-year case has engrossed America as Stewart’s many fans and detractors have played out the case almost daily through the nation’s media.

Yesterday at about 9.30am the final act of the Martha Stewart circus began as she arrived at the Federal court house in Manhattan surrounded by lawyers and advisors.

Dressed in a black trouser suit, her blonde hair recently trimmed and highlighted, Stewart entered the packed courtroom and all chatter was silenced in a second.

The 62-year-old former chief executive of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia looked tired, drawn and nervous as she walked slowly down the aisle. She chatted and smiled with friends, nervously playing with her hair, and was overheard saying “such a waste of time” several times before taking her seat.

Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, who found Stewart guilty of obstruction of justice, making false statements and conspiracy, asked her if she had read the sentencing guidelines she had been given.

“I have,” Stewart replied, looking down.

Robert Morvillo, Stewart’s lawyer, took the stand to plead for leniency from the court and gave an extraordinary 15-minute speech in which he effectively asked Judge Cedarbaum not to send Stewart to jail but, rather, allow her to enter a community service programme.

“We live, fortunately, in a nation that puts a premium on the concept of freedom,” he said. “It is the belief of an overwhelming majority of the US population that only the most serious of crimes should lead to the deprivation of that freedom.”

Of Stewart’s crime, he asked: “Is it so serious, that it warrants society’s most serious penalty? I do not believe it is.”

Stewart stared straight ahead as he talked.

She choked back tears and hinted that the case had made her ill, suggesting that at times she had considered herself close to death.

“Today is a shameful day for me and my family,” Stewart told the court.

The scandal had “spread like oil over a vast landscape and choked me, almost suffocated me to death”, she added.

She then asked Judge Cedarbaum to remember the good work she had done.

“My hope is that my life will not be entirely destroyed in your merciful and competent hands,” she added.

Judge Cedarbaum meted out what she described as the most lenient sentence she could under federal sentencing guidelines.

Stewart was ordered to spend five months in a prison camp, probably in Danbury, Connecticut, just half an hour’s drive from her country home.

She must also spend five months under house arrest, wearing an electronic ankle bracelette and only being allowed out to work or to shop for groceries for 48 hours a week.

While under house arrest she is also forbidden to use or keep a computer modem or a cordless telephone. She must also pay a $30,000 (£16,000) fine.

In a surprising show of leniency, Judge Cedarbaum granted a last-minute motion by Mr Morvillo who asked for Stewart to be bailed pending appeal. The appeals process could take more than a year, during which time she will not be jailed.

Judge Cedarbaum said that part of her decision was based on Stewart’s good works in the community and partly on the fact that 1,500 people had written to the court pleading for mercy.

“I have read them all,” Judge Cedarbaum said.

On the steps of the court Stewart repeated some of her courtroom speech and urged her many fans gathered around her to show their support by subscribing to her magazines and by buying her homeware products.

She told the crowds, who shouted “We love you. Martha” as she spoke, that she was not frightened of the jail sentence before her.

“I’ll be back. I will be back,” she said. “Whatever I have to do in the next few months I hope the months go by quickly. I am used to all kinds of hard work as you know and I am not afraid, I am not afraid whatsoever. I am just very, very sorry that it has come to this, that a small personal matter has been able to be blown out of all proportion and with such venom. It is just terrible.”

Shares in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia rose more than 30 per cent to $11.33 after her words. They have been in decline since the scandal surfaced in January 2002.

SHARE SALE THAT LED TO COURT

Stewart sold 3,928 shares in ImClone, run by Sam Waksal, a friend. A day later an ImClone announce- ment sent the price falling. Stewart saved $51,000 by offloading her shares. Prosecutors said that Peter Bacanovic, her stockbroker, had ordered his assistant to tip her off that Mr Wasksal was selling shares.

The charges: Four counts of lying and obstructing an investigation into her 2001 sale of shares in ImClone Systems. The jury found that Ms Stewart had twice lied to the FBI and to securities regulators investigating her sale of ImClone stock. They found her guilty of obstructing justice by attempting to cover up the reasons behind her stock sale. They also found her guilty of conspiring to commit her crimes with Bacanovic.

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Afghanistan News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• Should Knox’s trial even have reached the courtroom?
• 'Was it real?' The US bailout nightmare
• Iranian opposition plays the long game