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Martha Stewart gets out of jail, but not yet free

Martha Stewart, released after five months in a West Virginia prison, arrived at her multimillion-dollar 62 hectare New York estate early yesterday to begin serving the home detention portion of her sentence for lying about a stock sale.

"The experience of the last five months ... has been life altering and life affirming," Stewart said in a statement issued on her Web site. "Someday, I hope to have the chance to talk more about all that has happened, the extraordinary people I have met here and all that I have learned."

Stewart can return to work, start drawing her US$900,000 salary again and even throw lavish house parties -- as long as she doesn't invite any criminals. She must wear an electronic anklet to allow authorities to monitor her movements.

She left the women's prison in Alderson, West Virginia, at 12:30am yesterday and headed to a nearby airport, where she smiled, waved to supporters and boarded a private jet for the hour flight to New York.

Stewart was driven to her Westchester County estate in the rolling horse country 64km north of midtown Manhattan at about 2am. She later was seen walking around inside her Winter Home with her daughter, Alexis.

Stewart, 63, who also has homes in Connecticut, Maine and the Hamptons, chose the Katonah estate, which she bought in 2000 for US$16 million, to be her prison away from prison until August.

The woman behind a billion-dollar homemaking empire will be confined to one of several houses on her estate except for 48 hours a week for her job.

She had 72 hours after leaving prison to report to New York probation authorities, who will use the anklet and random telephone calls to enforce the ban on going outside during non-working hours.

Details about where Stewart will work will be determined at a meeting with her probation officer in the next few days.

Besides running Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc and writing a column for her magazine, Stewart can prepare for the two TV shows in which she will star.
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