Martha Stewart preps for prison, consultant in tow

Martha Stewart has never been one to skimp on the extras. And her sentencing, scheduled for Friday, will be no different. Along with her friends, family, and legal advisers will be an extra layer of protection - in the form of a sentencing consultant, hired to help the doyenne of taste navigate the hazards and complexities of her punishment.

"We'll want to make sure all goes as well as it can go," says her adviser, Herb Hoelter, who will have a seat in the federal court in New York. "Or, I'll be there if anything goes sour."

Ms. Stewart's hire is not an anomaly these days. As white-collar criminals increasingly face jail terms, a group of consultants is helping them transition from life in the fast lane to life behind bars.

Some advisers focus solely on the sentencing process, often convincing judges to hand down shorter and lighter penalties. Others are more all-encompassing: part legal adviser, part psychiatrist, and part friend, as they help defendants and their families prepare for the shock, humiliation, and isolation that often accompany a prison sentence.

Those familiar with the business say the industry is in great demand from white collar criminals, ranging from child pornographers to CEOs accused of stealing corporate funds.

"People with money retain them," says Malcolm Young, executive director of the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit group. He likens the trend to those able to pay for the best medical care. "They think it's effective."

Studies have shown that such advisers have had an impact in reducing sentences and finding alternatives to incarceration.

In Stewart's case, Hoelter has been involved with her proposal to do community service at the Women's Venture Fund, which teaches urban women entrepreneurial skills.

"From a community service standpoint, there is not a better fit," says Hoelter, a cofounder and CEO of the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives in Baltimore. "The judge could give a shorter period of time and community service or she could order community service instead of part of the time in jail."

But legal experts think it's likely Stewart will get at least some time in a federal jail. According to Kirby Behre, author of a book on federal sentencing guidelines, the range for Stewart is 10 to 16 months. The judge may give half of that in home confinement or at a halfway house. "At the end of the day, there is very little wriggle room to avoid at least five months in jail," says Mr. Behre, a partner at the Washington law firm Paul Hastings.

If Stewart does get jail time, Hoelter will be instrumental in trying to convince the court to send her to a minimum security facility close to where she resides in Connecticut. At a federal "camp," Stewart would live in a dorm, would walk to a dining hall, and could get a job working outdoors.

"A white-collar criminal with no prior arrests, convicted of a nonviolent crime, scores out to a minimum facility," he says.

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