Martha Stewart to Do Time in W.Va. Federal Prison

NEW YORK – Martha Stewart (search) was ordered Wednesday to serve her sentence at a federal prison in Alderson, W.Va., nicknamed "Camp Cupcake."

The federal judge who sentenced the celebrity homemaker, who is due to report to prison on Oct 8, had recommended she serve her jail term at either Danbury, Conn., or Coleman, Fla.

But the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (search) has instead decided that Stewart will serve the prison sentence at the Alderson minimum security facility

"While I had hoped to be designated to a facility closer to my family and more accessible to my appellate attorneys, I am pleased that the Bureau of Prisons has designated me so quickly to FPC Alderson, the first Federal prison camp for women in the United States," Stewart said in a statement.

"I look forward to getting this behind me and to vigorously pursuing my appeal," she added.

Stewart was sentenced in July after she was convicted of lying about why she sold ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL) stock in 2001. She was assigned federal inmate No. 55170-054 on Monday.

The Alderson facility was not on Stewart's wish list because it lacks any nearby transportation and was not requested because of limited accessibility by rail or plane

In making the decision to send Stewart to Alderson, prison officials believed the celebrity would receive less media attention when reporting for the sentence there than if she were sent to either Danbury or Coleman, according to a source close to matter.

Both of those facilities are also crowded at the moment and have little or no room for new inmates, the source said.

The minimum-security federal camp for women, which opened in 1927, was the nation's first all-women's institution.

In the 1980s the facility, where inmates sleep in bunk beds in dormitory-style rooms, was reclassified as a minimum security "camp."

Alderson inmates mow grass, sweep and pick up trash, usually twice a week from April to September. Inmates take donated yarn and knit sweaters, hats, scarves and mittens for the Family Refuge Center in Lewisburg, W.Va.

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme (search) escaped from Alderson in 1987; Axis Sally (Mildred Gillars) and Tokyo Rose (Iva Toguri) also served time there.

Stewart and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic (search), were convicted in March. He received the identical sentence of five months in prison and five months of house arrest.

Stewart resigned as CEO of her company when she was indicted and gave up her seat on the board after she was convicted. She remains its leading creative force and holds the title of founding editorial director.

After her release, Stewart will still have to serve five months of house arrest at her home in suburban Bedford, New York, where she would wear a monitoring device.

Shares of her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (MSO) fell 15 cents to $15.61 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.