Brenda Martin Back In Canada
Posted May 1, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
When Brenda Martin’s plane landed in Canada just after 6pm Thursday evening, she was still a prisoner. But the woman who’s spent more than two years languishing in brutal conditions in a Mexican prison likely didn’t feel quite as much like one now that she’s finally back home.
Martin landed at the Regional Airport in Kitchener-Waterloo at the supper hour, ending a terrible ordeal that had her own mother fearing her daughter might commit suicide.
Martin is the Trenton native who was found guilty of fraud in Guadalajara, after her former boss bilked 15,000 investors out of almost $60 million. She worked as a cook for Alyn Waage, who fled to the U.S. and remains in jail for his crimes. But he’s signed a statement insisting she had nothing to do with the scam, and she’s always protested her innocence.
The 51-year-old languished in jail without a trial for years until Canadians became aware of her case and demanded the federal government take action. The diplomatic wheels turned slowly but the pressure was enough to speed up the system and she finally got her day in court.
Despite some tenuous evidence against her, she was brought before a judge and found guilty on April 22nd.
She was sentenced to five years in jail and fined just over $3,600. But Canadian officials offered to allow her to serve her time in an Ontario facility and tried to speed her return to this country. It finally came when she boarded a plane in the afternoon and left the nation she’ll never return to again.
But while she’s technically still a prisoner – and was accompanied back with a Correctional Service of Canada escort – she likely won’t remain behind bars for long. She’ll be eligible for parole in just a few months based on the time she’s already served in Mexico.
“Brenda has to go through a process,” explains her lawyer, Guillermo Cruz Rico. 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.”
Her first stop after her long journey was the Grand Valley Institution, a maximum security prison in Kitchener-Waterloo. After that, she could return home to Trenton to stay with her mother, who has felt like an equal prisoner watching her daughter’s mental state deteriorate. Marjorie Bletcher cried when her child was found guilty and is pleased she’s home – even if she remains an inmate.
“Thank God. My prayers are being answered,” the tearful mother said Thursday while speaking with her daughter on the phone.
She’s spent an agonizing few months fearing Martin would take her own life.
Instead, her trip home gives her daughter the first hope in two years that she may actually get that life back.
Previous stories:
Tearful Mom Pleads For Help As Imprisoned Daughter Threatens Suicide In Mexican Jail
Ottawa Doles Out $3,500 To Bring Brenda Martin Back From Mexico
Liberal Party Releases Statement On Brenda Martin’s Trial
Mexican Officials Assure Canada They’ll ‘Fast Track’ Brenda Martin Court Case
Brenda Martin Found Guilty By Mexican Judge
