Why was Martha Stewart convicted?

Martha Stewart had many shares of a stock known as ImClone. She quickly sold many of her shares before the shares dropped. It was believed that Stewart had committed securities fraud as a result of knowing about the decrease of the shared from the company where she had stocks.

As a result, she was arrested and charged with these crimes. After going to court, Stewart was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction and lying to federal investigators. This took place in 2004 and she stayed in prison for a little less than half a year.

These crimes were federal and they were felonies. She had to pay some money and two others were convicted for similar crimes in association with Martha Stewart.