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GUADALAJARA, Mexico — A Mexican judge found Canadian Brenda Martin guilty Tuesday of involvement in an Internet scam run by her former boss, dashing her hopes of being freed quickly from jail and leaving her “devastated.”
Ms. Martin, 51, formerly of Trenton, Ont., was given a five-year sentence and fined 35,800 pesos – equivalent to about $3,680 Cdn. – in the verdict handed down by the judge.
Ms. Martin has been in jail in Mexico for two years in connection with the Internet scheme operated by her former boss, but she has consistently maintained she did not know it was a scam.
The judge's ruling, however, says she knew there were illicit funds involved.
Ms. Martin was not in the courtroom. She was informed by officials in prison shortly before the verdict was delivered.
“She was devastated,” said her lawyer Guillermo Cruz, who was with her when she learned of the ruling. “She was crying, she got some medical assistance.
“Before she got the verdict, she said if she's [found] guilty, she wouldn't be much longer here in Mexico. It's a scary statement.”
Ms. Martin's longtime friend Debra Tieleman said she believes Ms. Martin will be transferred to Canada within days.
“She will go home, but she will go home to jail as far as I know,” Ms. Tieleman said.
Mr. Cruz said Ms. Martin could have to spend at least another five days in jail. Under Mexican law, a convicted prisoner must wait out the five-day appeal period before the transfer process can begin.
Ms. Martin had said she wouldn't appeal the decision because she wanted to leave Mexico as quickly as possible. But because she will ask to be transferred, she must launch the appeal and wait for it to go through the system.
A Canadian Embassy official said the government will continue to be involved in the case and will provide assistance.
Tuesday's verdict came as a huge blow to Ms. Martin and her supporters, who are worried that she is too fragile to handle the bad news. Ms. Martin has been on suicide watch at the prison and friends say she was terrified ahead of the verdict.
Her mother Marjorie Bletcher cried when she heard the verdict. “She is in such a fragile state that I'm afraid that this might just take her over the edge,” Ms. Bletcher told CTV Newsnet.
“But I guess that was done so they could save face. That's the only reason I figure this all happened, and because we never paid any bribes to the Mexican judges,” her mother said.
In Ottawa, Opposition Liberal MP Dan McTeague said it's time for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to demand that Ms. Martin be released immediately.
A spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day indicated the minister could have Ms. Martin released from Mexican custody once she signs the necessary paperwork.
Mr. Day said the government will work to arrange a prisoner transfer as quickly as possible.
“Sometimes, these prisoner transfers can take weeks, if not months, but I have given instructions very clear that we want everything set up ready to go,” Mr. Day told CTV Newsnet from New Orleans.
“We're ready to move very quickly on this prisoner transfer and get her home as soon as possible. There's other details that still have to be confirmed over the next couple of days.”
Ms. Martin has been held at the Puente Grande women's prison near Guadalajara since Mexican authorities arrested her more than two years ago in connection with the Internet fraud scheme.
Ms. Martin has been in a prison near Guadalajara since February, 2006.
Former Edmontonian Alyn Waage masterminded the scheme called the Tri-West Investment Club that bilked 15,000 investors out of nearly $60-million U.S. from 1999 to 2001.
Ms. Martin worked as a chef for Mr. Waage in Puerto Vallarta but was fired in 2001 because of a disagreement about his mother.
She was paid $26,000 in severance, and invested part of that money into Mr. Waage's business. She says she didn't know his business was fraudulent – a fact Mr. Waage himself backed up in a sworn statement.
She has consistently denied having any knowledge of the scam, and Mr. Waage told The Canadian Press last month he paid Ms. Martin a year's severance simply because he felt bad about firing her.
Mr. Martin subsequently invested $10,000 of the severance pay into Tri-West – money Mr. Waage returned to her once it became clear he had been involved in illegal activities.
But Mexican prosecutors alleged that she knowingly accepted illegal funds. They pursued the case even though they admit most of their evidence against her was circumstantial. They said her “close relationship” with Mr. Waage “for a fair length of time leads to the supposition that she had some knowledge of the criminal activities in which her friend was engaged.”
Ms. Martin's lawyer had unsuccessfully tried to get her case thrown out, arguing she was never provided with an interpreter – a breach of Mexican and international law.
Mexican officials blamed the constitutional challenge, or amparo, in part for prolonging Ms. Martin's criminal trial by putting it on hold until the judge ruled on the civil-rights case.
Ms. Martin's friends and family have said they feared for her mental and physical well-being, noting she had attempted to commit suicide three time while in prison and lost more than 30 pounds. They have criticized the Canadian government for not doing more to help her.
Ms. Martin's case has been something of a diplomatic eyesore.
Each media report of her plight ratcheted up pressure on Ottawa to press her case with Mexican officials. It also put Mexico in the unenviable position of defending the autonomy of a justice system perceived by some as rife with human-rights abuses.
