Quote from gms:
They're nailing her because she tried to cover up whatever it was she had done, even though what she had done, tell her broker to sell when he told her waxell was selling, was not illegal. But in her anxiouty or nervousness or stupidity or naivete, she didn't know that. Bottom line, she lied to the government when they came asking questions, and they can't have that. Since she's a high profile personality, they know that making an example out of her will also serve the purpose of keeping the rest of the populus in line because of the coverage it will get. They know many will think, "Boy, if they can send multi-wealthy little miss powerful Martha Stewart to jail/fine her $XXXX, imagine how long they'd put away a little nothing guy like me if I tried to cover something up or tried to get away with something". It's not the first time a high profile person got that treatment from the government.