Martha Stewart preps for prison, consultant in tow

But it's not a given that a white-collar criminal will go to a federal prison camp. Lea Fastow, convicted of Enron-related crimes with her husband, former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow, entered a maximum security facility this week because there was no room in a camp. "She will spend most of her time locked down; it will be terrible," says Hoelter.

David Novak of David Novak Consulting in Salt Lake City helps white-collar criminals prepare for this type of shock.

A former prisoner turned sentencing consultant, he says many white-collar criminals are surprised to see so many drug dealers. "They are under the misconception that they are going to a country club ... that they'll serve their time with lawyers and doctors," he says. Part of his job is to dispel those myths. "The biggest shock is that there is no such thing as a white-collar prison."

Many of his clients, accustomed to leading thousands of employees and setting their own rules, often are surprised by the "absolute loss of control," he says, such as the autonomy to choose what to do or what to wear.

"I try to get them in a position where they recognize the more they do to help fellow inmates" - by tutoring them in the English language or with GED exams - "the better or more worthwhile they'll feel," says Novak. "It's very easy for your mind and your heart and spirit to atrophy."

Not all white-collar criminals turn to consultants. Dunlap Cannon, a former lawyer in Tennessee who committed real estate fraud, says he did his own research on life in prison before serving time - about 33 months. He also sought advice from those who had also spent time behind bars. "But nothing really prepares you for that first day when you walk down with the guard [who] says, 'When you were a lawyer, you were a stupid lawyer,''' says Mr. Cannon. "For the first time you go in your jail cell and they close the door, the first time they put handcuffs on you. All those things are humbling."

Cannon now gives speeches on fraud prevention for a lecture service in Columbus, Ohio, called The Pros and The Cons. The group gives 150 to 250 speeches a year, says founder Gary Zeune. His first requirement when he hires ex-convicts? "Are you willing to admit what you did, and take responsibility for it?" he asks. If the answer is no, the ex-convict isn't hired.

That, in fact, is some of the most important advice that Novak, a former Microsoft consultant, says he can give. "A federal prosecution is incredibly adversarial. You can come out of it feeling victimized, saying 'They were mean to me, or they didn't have to go that far,'" says Novak. But he emphasizes to them: "Your choices and the consequences for those choices are truly what put you in this position."

Novak also tells clients to go without notions of superiority. "It's very easy to delude yourself that you are superior to your fellow inmates," says Novak. "Federal prison is truly the great equalizer."

He learned that lesson first hand. At first, he identified more with the staff than with inmates. But he says he was lucky. "Within several days my bunkee ... kinda pulled me to the side," he says. He told Novak to watch himself. "That's all it took for me."

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