Rochester, USA - A North Dakota woman convicted of stalking a woman in Minnesota because she is Muslim must pay $3,000 in fines and do 200 hours of community work service.
Olmsted County Judge Kevin Lund also placed 47-year-old Patricia Stockwell on two years' probation and ordered her to write an apology to the victim. If Stockwell fails to the meet the conditions, she will serve one year in jail.
A jury convicted her in September 2006 of stalking Madina Hassan and found it was because of Hassan's Muslim faith.
"Her role was not a passive role," prosecutor Ross Leuning said of Stockwell. "People should not have to be afraid to worship their God."
Stockwell denied following the victim in her car and said she doesn't understand why the victim was frightened. Stockwell once lived in Rochester but now lives in Grand Forks, N.D.
Lund sentenced Stockwell after denying her attorney's motions for a new trial and a judgment of acquittal. Stockwell's attorney, Frederick Goetz of Minneapolis, says he will appeal.