Lifestyle entrepreneur Martha Stewart was set free from a West Virginia prison this morning after serving five months for lying to investigators about a stock trade.
Stewart was expected to fly to her 153-acre suburban estate in Bedford, New York, to resume TV and media projects despite having to serve a further five months of house arrest.
Wearing an electronic surveillance bracelet and monitored by federal authorities, Stewart (63) will be allowed to leave her home for 48 hours weekly to go to her office.
Pending projects include a new television show The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, a spin-off of the popular Donald Trump reality TV show.
She also will have a new daytime cooking and lifestyle TV show and will resume collecting her $900,000-a-year salary plus bonuses as the creative force of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
Ms Stewart, who resigned as chairman and chief executive of the company, is reportedly in talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission in hopes of being allowed to resume a leading executive role.
In her five-month absence, the value of stock in her company has more than doubled. It is a far cry from last year when, in the wake of her conviction, the stock price sank, CBS dropped her TV show and advertisers shunned her company magazines.