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 Americas & Beyond | May 2008 
Brenda Martin Returns to Canada
 CBC News
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| | Brenda Martin has spent the last 26 months in a Mexican prison. (Paul Hunter/CBC) | | |
Brenda Martin, a Canadian woman who spent more than two years in a Mexican jail, has returned to Canada.
Martin, from Trenton, Ont., had been working in Mexico and was found guilty last week of money laundering by a Mexican judge. She had been in a Guadalajara-area jail since 2006, with the past few months spent sedated and on suicide watch.
A private jet carrying Martin touched down at the Waterloo regional airport in southern Ontario shortly before 6 p.m. ET, the CBC's Ron Charles reported. Accompanied by Canadian officials, Martin was loaded into a Corrections Service of Canada van and taken to a local women's prison.
Her lawyer, Guillermo Cruz Rico, said Martin will be eligible for parole and could be free in a couple of months.
Brenda has to go through a process," Rico said. "That process has to be before Correctional Service of Canada.
"At some point, she's going to be able to apply for parole as well. That has to be before the parole board. At some point, we're going to find out if Brenda would be able to get free in a couple of months."
Martin can apply for parole immediately upon arrival at a Canadian facility, as she has already served one-third of her sentence, counting time served before the verdict, the CBC's Paul Hunter reported.
Martin's 69-year-old mother, Marjorie Bletcher, told CBC News on Thursday that she hopes her daughter will receive psychiatric care as soon as possible because of the toll her incarceration has taken on her.
Its been a horrific 2.2 years for her, Bletcher said.
Maintains innocence in $60M internet fraud
Martin was convicted of money laundering by a Mexican judge last week and sentenced to five years in prison in Mexico without parole, as well as a fine of 35,800 pesos, or around $3,500.
Last week, the Conservative government paid the fine in order to expedite her transfer.
Jason Kenney, the secretary of state for multiculturalism, travelled to the prison near Guadalajara last week to discuss arrangements for her transfer.
Kenney said the fine was paid through a special Foreign Affairs fund for distressed Canadians abroad. Martin will be expected to repay the government.
Martin, 51, was accused of participating in a $60 million internet fraud scheme run by Canadian Alyn Waage, who was convicted of fraud in 2006 and is serving a 10-year term in a U.S. prison.
Mexican investigators said Martin, who worked as Waage's chef in Puerto Vallarta for 10 months, accepted a severance package knowing the money came from the scam.
But Martin maintained her innocence, saying she knew nothing of Waage's schemes. Waage's testimony corroborated her story. |
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