NEW YORK, July 16 (UPI) -- Martha Stewart's preparations for her sentencing hearing in a New York courtroom includes a so-called sentencing consultant, the Christian Science Monitor said.
Stewart was scheduled to be in court Friday to hear what sentence the judge in her insider trading-case has decided to impose.
Such consultants are in great demand from white-collar criminals, ranging from child pornographers to chief executives accused of stealing corporate funds, observers say.
"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 such consultants may actually be effective in reducing sentences and finding alternatives to incarceration.
Stewart's sentencing consultant, Herb Hoelter, helped craft 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 co-founder and chief executive officer 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."
