Stewart, in Web site letter, says she's adjusting to life behind bars

Friday, October 15th 2004, 7:47 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Martha Stewart said on Friday that she has adjusted to prison life and is keeping busy behind bars since reporting a week ago to a federal penal camp in West Virginia, where she is serving a five-month sentence for lying about a stock sale.

The celebrity homemaker said she was touched by the outpouring of support she has received from millions of people who have visited her Web site, according to a letter posted by Stewart on www.marthatalks.com.

Stewart, who reported to Alderson Federal Prison Camp before sunrise last Friday, said life at the camp held few surprises.

``The camp is fine; it is pretty much what I anticipated,'' she said in her Internet posting.

``The best news _ everyone is nice _ both the officials and my fellow inmates,'' the letter continued. ``I have adjusted and am very busy. The camp is like an old-fashioned college campus _ without the freedom, of course.''

Stewart, 63, was convicted last March of lying to investigators about why she sold stock in a biotech drug maker in December 2001, just before its price plunged. The home fashion mogul is continuing to appeal her conviction.