Stewart meets with probation officer

NEW YORK -- Martha Stewart met with a probation officer and thanked viewers and readers for their support Monday as the board of her namesake empire met to discuss her fate.\nStewart briefly addressed a horde of camera crews outside a Manhattan courthouse where she spent about an hour with probation officials who will make a sentencing recommendation for lying about a well-timed stock sale.\n"I want to thank my readers, my viewers and the Internet users," Stewart said as she stepped into a sport utility vehicle. "I just want to thank everyone for their support."\nThe courthouse appearance came as stock in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia continued to slide and the board was gathering to discuss her future, according to a source close to the company who spoke on condition of anonymity. Her syndicated television show, "Martha Stewart Living," was taken off the air Monday on Viacom-owned CBS and UPN stations.\nStewart, wearing a black overcoat and carrying a Martha Stewart Living umbrella, was accompanied by her lawyer, Robert Morvillo, and another member of her defense team.\nThe remarks were her second since being convicted. As Stewart left the courthouse Friday after the verdict, the Daily News asked her to comment on the fairness of the trial. She replied, "The unfairness of the trial, that's the right comment."\nThe meeting with probation officials is the first step toward Stewart's sentencing in June.\nAfter a series of meetings, officials will hand up a report to U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum recommending a range of prison time for Stewart. Most legal experts expect that to be 10 to 16 months.\nThe judge can allow Stewart to spend part of her sentence in a halfway house or in home confinement. The law also calls for up to a $1 million fine for the four counts on which she was convicted -- conspiracy, obstructing justice and two counts of making false statements.\nStewart, 62, and former stockbroker Peter Bacanovic, 41, were found guilty of lying to investigators about why Stewart sold her shares of ImClone Systems stock Dec. 27, 2001, the day before a disappointing government report was released on its cancer drug, Erbitux.\nStewart told investigators in April 2002 she had no memory of being tipped that ImClone CEO Sam Waksal was trying to sell his shares. Morvillo later admitted in court Stewart was tipped.\nBacanovic also met briefly with probation officials Monday, but did not address reporters.\nWith her conviction, the government will likely press to have Stewart removed from the board of her company, but the big question is how involved she will be. Stewart's name, now tainted with a conviction, is stamped on a wide variety of products from TV shows to magazines and merchandise.\nStewart stepped down from her role as chief executive and chairman of the board in June after being indicted, but remains as chief creative officer and member of the board.\nDennis McAlpine, a managing director of the research firm McAlpine Associates, said the company has a number of options as it digests the verdict, from Stewart taking the company private to a complete name change.\nShares in the company continued to fall -- after dropping 23 percent Friday they were down 78 cents or nearly 7 percent at $10.08 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock had traded at about $19 a share before the ImClone investigation.\nStewart owns about 30 million shares of the company and has lost millions of dollars as the stock has fallen.