Stewart witness avoids jail sentence

A former brokerage assistant who helped Martha Stewart make her fateful stock trade and later emerged as a key government witness against the homemaking expert was fined €1,800 but spared both prison and probation today for accepting a payoff during the government’s investigation.

US District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum imposed the fine against Douglas Faneuil one week after she sentenced Stewart to five months in prison and five months of home detention for lying to authorities.