NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The Bureau of Prisons has assigned Martha Stewart an inmate register number, 55170-054, and its inmate locator Web site says Stewart is "in transit."

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"After an offender is given a surrender date, they're entered into the system, and it defaults to 'in transit' until they arrive at their designated institution," said Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley.

Billingsley said it does not mean the inmate is on the way to the institution.

A representative of Stewart said, there is "nothing new" regarding Stewart.

Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum ordered Stewart to report for her five-month prison sentence before 2 p.m. on October 8, 2004.

Inmates "almost always report on the date assigned," Billingsley said. She cited exceptions where inmates have "transportation issues," such as on September 11, 2001, when airlines were grounded.

Stewart was convicted of obstruction of justice and lying to federal investigators about her sale of stock in biotechnology company, ImClone Systems (IMCL: Research, Estimates). Stewart is appealing the conviction but has chosen to begin serving her sentence before her appeal is heard.

Cedarbaum has recommended that the Bureau of Prisons assign Stewart to one of two minimum security Federal Prison Camps -- at Danbury, Conn., Stewart's first choice; or Coleman, Fla., Stewart's second choice.

The Bureau's Inmate Population Report had 179 inmates in the Danbury camp as of September 23. Capacity of that camp is 217 inmates, according to a representative of the Danbury institution.