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Casey Anthony admirers send her cash in jail

Admirers and supporters from as far away as Canada have sent money to Casey Anthony, the Florida mother acquitted earlier this month in one of the most followed criminal trials nationwide.
/ Source: msnbc.com news services

Admirers and supporters from as far away as Canada have sent money to Casey Anthony, the Florida mother acquitted earlier this month in one of the most followed criminal trials nationwide.

An Orange County jury found 25-year-old Anthony not guilty of a first-degree murder charge stemming from the 2008 death of Caylee, whose skeletal remains were later found in woods near the Anthony family home.

However, Casey Anthony was convicted of misdemeanor charges of lying to detectives during the investigation and sentenced to the maximum four years in jail.

As of Thursday, Anthony had earned $472.18 — almost $200 more than she had the day she received the verdict, ABC News reported. Donations have come from at least 17 different donors since May, according to Orange County Corrections Department records. Charitable donors have been mostly men, ranging in age from 10 to the late 50s, according to People magazine.

"I do not know Casey personally, nor am I supporting her as a person, nor am I anything like the people sending her love letters and asking her to marry them," one of her more generous male donors, who's in his late 20s, told People. "However, what I am supporting is the jury's decision to acquit based on lack of evidence failing to overcome the reasonable doubt standard."

An average inmate's account balance at the jail checked in at $36.30, according to department records.

Meanwhile, Anthony's legal troubles are not over. Texas EquuSearch is suing the 32-year-old resident.

Tim Miller, the firm's founder, said he spent a month searching for Anthony's two-year-old daughter, Caylee, in the summer of 2008. "We ended up and spent a little over $112,000 on this search," Miller told KPRC in Houston, adding "I think it is only fair that we try to recoup that money."

Meanwhile, a Fla. lawmaker was seeking to ban future jurors from profiting from their civic service after a juror in the Casey Anthony trial reportedly demanded thousands of dollars to sit for a news interview.

State Representative Scott Randolph of Orlando said he filed a bill to prohibit jurors from receiving compensation immediately following a trial for information about their jury service.

The bill would impose a 270-day "cooling-off" period during which payments to jurors would be banned. Violating the law would be a third-degree felony punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, Randolph's office said in a statement.

"Every American must receive a fair trial, without fear that a juror may be influenced by future monetary considerations," said lawyer Mark Nejame, who formerly represented Casey Anthony's parents and is working with Randolph on the bill.

Randolph said he was also preparing to file a bill he called the "Juror Protection Act," which would keep jurors' names secret unless they chose to identify themselves.

A similar proposal was being pushed by the Florida Civil Rights Association, but its version would keep juror names sealed only for a "reasonable cooling-off period."

The civil rights group's version also would make it a crime to contact any juror who has "publicly made clear that they do not wish to be contacted." The group is trying to find a legislative sponsor.

Reuters contributed to this report.