Timeline of important events in Martha Stewart scandal
Oct. 31, 2001: ImClone Systems asks the government to review Erbitux, its new cancer drug.
Dec. 26, 2001: ImClone founder Sam Waksal is tipped that the government will deny the company's Erbitux application, then tips his daughter to sell her ImClone stock and tries to sell his own.
Dec. 27, 2001: Stewart sells all 3,928 shares of ImClone stock she owns. The government later contends she was tipped that Waksal was trying to sell his shares.
Dec. 28, 2001: The FDA makes its decision public. On Dec. 31, the first trading day after the news, ImClone drops 18 percent.
Jan. 7, 2002: Stewart's broker, Peter Bacanovic, tells Securities and Exchange Commission attorneys that he and Stewart had agreed on Dec. 20, 2001, to sell ImClone if it fell below $60.
Feb. 4, 2002: Stewart gives the SEC, federal prosecutors and the FBI the same information about the $60 stop-loss order.
June 12, 2002: Waksal is arrested and charged with insider trading. Stewart issues a statement repeating her assertion that she had a $60 stop-loss order.
June 18, 2002: Stewart insists she is "fully" cooperating with authorities.
Oct. 2, 2002: Former Merrill Lynch & Co. assistant Douglas Faneuil pleads guilty to taking a payoff to keep quiet about the Stewart stock trade.
Oct. 15, 2002: Waksal admits tipping his daughter to sell ImClone ahead of the government decision and trying to sell his own shares.
June 4, 2003: Stewart and Bacanovic are indicted on nine federal counts in the ImClone scandal. Both plead innocent. Stewart resigns as chairwoman and CEO of her company but remains chief creative officer and a board member.
June 5, 2003: Stewart unveils a personal Web site in which she proclaims her innocence and insists she will fight to clear her name.
June 10, 2003: Waksal is sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
Nov. 7, 2003: Stewart tells ABC News she is scared of prison but "I don't think I will be going to prison, though."
Nov. 18, 2003: U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum refuses Stewart's request to toss out two of the five charges against her, including a securities fraud count.
Jan. 6, 2004: Potential jurors fill out a questionnaire that reportedly asks whether they have visited Stewart's Web site or cooked with her recipes.
Jan. 26: Jury of eight women and four men is selected.
Jan. 27: Prosecutor claims in opening statements that Stewart sold ImClone stock based on a "secret tip," then lied to cover it up. Stewart's attorney compares case with the Big Brother novel "1984."
Feb. 3-4: Faneuil testifies that Bacanovic ordered him to tell Stewart that Waksal was selling stock. Faneuil claims Bacanovic pressured him repeatedly to cover it up.
Feb. 10: Stewart assistant Ann Armstrong testifies Stewart personally altered log of a message Bacanovic left on day she sold ImClone. But Armstrong says Stewart ordered the message changed back and never asked her to lie.
Feb. 19: Expert testifies ink Bacanovic used on worksheet of Stewart's portfolio to make an "(at)60" notation next to ImClone is different from other inks on the document. Stewart friend Mariana Pasternak says Stewart told her days after ImClone sale that she knew about Waksal selling and says Stewart added: "Isn't it nice to have brokers who tell you those things?"
Feb. 20: Under cross-examination, Pasternak backtracks on "Isn't it nice" remark, saying it could have been something she herself thought. Government rests its case.
Feb. 23: Jeremiah Gutman, former Faneuil lawyer called as witness for Bacanovic, instead backs up Faneuil testimony. Defense ink expert says "(at)60" ink may match ink from a dash mark elsewhere on the worksheet. Heidi DeLuca, a Stewart business manager, says she has a memory of Bacanovic discussing plans to sell Stewart's ImClone shares at $60.
Feb. 25: Stewart lawyers call just one witness
a lawyer whose notes raise question about what questions Stewart was asked in interviews with the government. Government plays tape of Bacanovic saying he never discussed $60 plan with DeLuca.
Feb. 27: Judge throws out securities fraud count against Stewart. The charge accused her of deceiving investors in her own media company by claiming she sold ImClone because of the $60 agreement.
March 3: Jury begins deliberations.
March 5: Stewart convicted on all charges; Bacanovic convicted on all but one charge, making a false statement.