Martin's supporters celebrate her return
Updated Fri. May. 2 2008 7:50 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Brenda Martin's mother spent Thursday night celebrating her daughter's return to Canadian soil, but says she won't truly believe the good news until she sees Martin with her own eyes.
"I probably won't (believe it) until I see her," Marjorie Bletcher told CTV's Canada AM on Friday morning. "I'm just so glad that she's home."
Martin received a prison transfer from Mexico on Thursday afternoon after spending more than two years in a Guadalajara prison. She was convicted of money laundering last month in relation to her former boss' Internet fraud scheme.
Bletcher, who lives in Trenton, Ont., said she didn't know her daughter was on her way back until she saw the news on CTV.
"It came across the screen that she was on a plane and was going to be coming in a couple of hours," said Bletcher. "I knew I'd have her back one day. If you lose hope there's nothing left."
A Mexican judge sentenced the 51-year-old Trenton native to a minimum of five years in jail and fined her about $3,500. Ottawa loaned Martin the money to pay the fine.
Martin had spent two years in a Mexican prison before hearing her verdict.
Bletcher said she spoke to Martin after her 6 p.m. arrival in Waterloo, Ont., and said she sounded better than she has in a long time.
"She seemed a 100 per cent better than she's been in the past few days, although she said she's sort of overwhelmed," Bletcher said. "She's going to be able to get the help she needs."
Martin has said she developed addictions to "anti-depressants, sleeping pills, anti-stress pills, pain-killers by injection (and) anti-anxiety injections" during her time at the Puente Grande women's prison. The facility's staff placed her on suicide watch for the latter part of her stay there.
Martin is currently being held at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont.
Canadian parole rules will now apply, and her release will be up to the National Parole Board, according to Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day.
In Canada, a federal prisoner is eligible to apply for day parole after serving one-sixth of her sentence and full parole after serving one-third.
Please Add Comments(3)
JayTee
Brenda Martin commits a crime in Mexico, and now we have to foot the bill for her incarceration.
Awesome.
Pugfire
Please, Please, let's drop this story now. More than enough time, money & media space has been devoted to this person and her "plight". I think the vast majority of Canadians are basically sick and tired of all the flap she has caused.
Naturally she is "innocent", all convicted people are victums of a miscarriage of justice.
Herb from Ottawa
Why are we giving so much attention to this individual? The Canadian Government has paid her fine, transported her back to Canada in a lear jet, and the media continues to flog this story as a means of gaining sympathy for her from the general Canadian public. We should have left her in Mexico. Bleeding hearts in Canada have made us a joke around the world.
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