By Erin McClam
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - A federal judge refused Thursday to grant Martha Stewart a new trial, paving the way for the celebrity homemaker to be sentenced next week for lying about a stock sale.

Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum of Manhattan federal court brushed aside claims by Stewart and her former stockbroker that their convictions are tainted by charges that a Secret Service ink expert lied on the witness stand.

"Because there is no reasonable likelihood that this perjury could have affected the jury's verdict, and because overwhelming independent evidence supports the verdict, the motions are denied," Cedarbaum wrote.

The decision means a sentencing hearing for Stewart and broker Peter Bacanovic set for July 16 is all but certain to go forward.

Legal experts expect Stewart and Bacanovic to be sentenced to 10 to 16 months apiece in prison, although Cedarbaum could allow them to serve some of the time at halfway houses or in home confinement.

Stewart's lawyer Robert Morvillo said he was "very disappointed" by the ruling.

Stewart and Bacanovic asked for new trials after Secret Service laboratory director Larry Stewart was charged with lying repeatedly in his testimony at the trial in February.

Prosecutors say Stewart falsely claimed he took part in ink testing of a stock worksheet that was a key piece of evidence at trial, and that he lied when he said he knew about a proposal for a forthcoming book on ink analysis.

But Cedarbaum rejected defense claims that Larry Stewart - no relation to Martha Stewart - was essentially part of the prosecution, and that prosecutors knew about the alleged lies in advance.

Larry Stewart was simply "an expert witness who was also a government employee," the judge wrote. "He was not a member of the government team' which investigated and prosecuted defendants."

Shareholders in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia sold on the news, driving the stock down 21 cents, or 2.4 percent, to close at $8.67 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Stewart resigned as CEO after she was indicted in 2003. She remainsfounding editorial director.