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TORONTO — Brenda Martin was eligible for parole as soon as she returned to Canada on Thursday, according to the National Parole Board.
Spokeswoman Nadine Archambault-Chapleau said that under the Offender Transfer Act, Ms. Martin was eligible upon arrival in the country. She said that Ms. Martin also qualifies for an accelerated parole review because she's a first-time federal offender serving a sentence for a non-violent crime.
Corrections Canada is currently reviewing Ms. Martin's case and will make a recommendation to the parole board based primarily on whether she is likely to commit a violent offence.
The former Trenton, Ont., resident spent more than two years behind bars in a women's prison near Guadalajara, Mexico, before being transferred to Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener on Thursday.
A Mexican court found her guilty last week of involvement in a scam run by her ex-boss, former Edmontonian Alyn Waage, but she has maintained her innocence. She was sentenced to five years in prison.
But as the verdict was handed down, the wheels were already in motion for a speedy transfer to Canadian authorities.
“Since the moment we got the verdict, we started working with Mexican and Canadian officials so the process would be fast,” said Guillermo Cruz, Ms. Martin's Toronto-based lawyer.
He said Ms. Martin is in much better condition since learning she was coming back to Canada. She was previously being held at the Puente Grande women's prison outside of Guadalajara, where she shared a cell with nearly a dozen other inmates.
In contrast, inmates at the Grand Valley facility live eight or 10 to a house and do their own cooking and order their own groceries.
“Her future now is completely different than a week ago,” Mr. Cruz said.
Prominent defence lawyer Edward Greenspan says Ms. Martin, 51, has already done her time in a Mexican prison and any further delays in Canada are unacceptable.
He said his legal team will move swiftly if Brenda Martin isn't set free in the next few days.
“There is a normal way of proceeding, and then there is a fast-tracked way of proceeding. I believe she should be fast-tracked,” he told The Canadian Press on Friday.
“And if she is not going to be fast-tracked, then we'll have to do what we have to do.”
With a report from The Canadian Press
