ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997 TAG: 9703040058
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CINCINNATI
SOURCE: Associated Press
THE 63-YEAR-OLD grandmother's random acts of kindness landed her in trouble, but made her a local hero. Although she said the case ``has been a strain,'' she has no plans to stop feeding the meters.
Sylvia Stayton's random act of kindness will end up costing her much more than the dime and nickel she plunked in other people's expired parking meters. She was fined $500 Monday.
``I did nothing wrong. I stand on that,'' she said after being sentenced for interfering with an officer. ``I wouldn't offer an apology because, in my heart of hearts, I know I didn't do anything wrong.''
For the 63-year-old grandmother of 10, it was the final indignity after she was handcuffed and arrested Oct. 24 for feeding two parking meters despite an officer's warning she was breaking an obscure city ordinance.
Her brief stay behind bars turned Stayton into something of a folk hero. Headlines called her the ``meter-feeding granny,'' she received $350 from people donating to her ``legal abuse fund'' and a church group that has been anonymously feeding parking meters for years printed up T-shirts that read: ``Sylvia Stayton guilty of kindness.''
Prosecutors bristled at the attention, and on Monday accused Stayton of grandstanding.
``Every time the cameras popped up, there she was,'' said prosecutor Ernest McAdams Jr. ``She could have pled to a parking fine. This is what she wanted.''
Stayton faced up to 90 days in jail and a $750 fine on her conviction of obstructing the official business of a police officer - that is, writing parking tickets. A jury acquitted her of disorderly conduct.
Municipal Judge John West rejected a final request to throw out the conviction and imposed his sentence without explanation.
Stayton's attorney said an appeal is likely. Although she said the case ``has been a strain,'' she has no plans to stop feeding the meters.
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Staytonby CNB