Mexican judge finds Brenda Martin guilty

[GAP]

Mexican judge finds Brenda Martin guilty
Updated Tue. Apr. 22 2008 4:40 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

A judge has found Brenda Martin guilty and sentenced her to five years in prison, devastating her family and supporters.

Martin, who has been under a suicide watch, collapsed in the courtroom after hearing the verdict.

"This is awful. It's probably going to kill her," Martin's mother, Trenton, Ont. resident Marjorie Bletcher, told CTV News.

"I just have to pray that she's going to be okay, because I mean, this has got to be devastating for her, to know that you're innocent and to get this verdict. I mean, this is crazy.

"I guess we didn't pay -- so Mexico's going to make her pay."

Bletcher said her daughter is in such a fragile state that she's afraid today's verdict will "take her over the edge."

Along with the five-year prison sentence, Martin was fined 35,800 pesos.

Martin has been held in custody since February 2006 and had to remain in jail while the legal process played out. The Mexican justice system places the onus on the accused to prove his or her innocence -- rather than on the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused.
More on link

 

[geo]

Well.... once political pressure was applied to the Mexican "judiciary" ..... what the heck reaction were you expecting her to get?

Now that the jugement has been handed down, she can be shipped up to Canada where:
- she can be Jailed (at our expense),
- she can be released me served,  (up here, jail time prior to conviction counts for 1.5 to 2 X)

I saw this one coming from  miles away.....

 

[Fishbone Jones]

I think she'll be sent back here. Get a show hearing and be released after little or no time. She's here and free, Mexico saves face by finding her guilty. Everybody happy.

 

[Yrys]

- she can be released me served,  (up here, jail time prior to conviction counts for 1.5 to 2 X)

I thought that people that went to do their jail time in their own country were subject on the time judge
by the country they should have originally made ther time (where the crime were committed) ?

 

[1feral1]

This is a piece of a quote from the CTV comments below the story on the INet ....

From a bloke in Vancouver

------------------

This case has been sensationalized by the media who actually have no proof of her guilt or innocence except the word of a convicted felon who bilked hundreds of innocent people, real innocent people, of millions of dollars.

The fact that Miss Martin is hiding behind the defense of being employed as a cook is a load of you know what. It's a cover for being the girlfriend and accomplice of a crook.

-----------------

This sums up pretty much which what I as trying to say.

On another flip of the coin, Mexico's Federalies have been prone to being corrupt in the past, and were were during to my visit to Mexico on 4 occasions.
Some things will never change, in 3rd world countries, open/discreet corruption seems to be normal.

Either way, you and I have no rights in such places. You don't want to get in a car accident there, even if you are NOT at fault.

Lastly, she should have thought of the consequences of committing crimes in 3rd world countries, as she is only there right now because of her own stupidity.
Canadian taxpayers should NOT have to be burdened with her completing her sentance in Canada.

Keep her in Mexico.

Loved those tears, she is only sorry because she got caught.

Whhhaaaaa!

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Personally, I am tired of hearing about this.  If she is/was innocent, there would be no evidence against her.  The whole reason this is on the news is for political reasons, else the average Canadian citizen would have no idea who this person is.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I thought that people that went to do their jail time in their own country were subject on the time judge
by the country they should have originally made ther time (where the crime were committed) ?

Yup, but since our *cough* judges get to make their own laws/rules it seems, anyone doing "dead" time [which is pre-sentence time] will be awarded at least double, or even 3+ times credit, for that time served.

Therefore, according to our JUDGES, not our laws passed by our elected politicians, this person would have at least served 4+ years already of her sentence.


Ontarios' jails are waaaaaay past capacity as defense lawyers are stalling trials at every chance they get so the clients can take advantage of this farce............then when they finally get Federal time, with all of its "let 'em out early' kife, these clowns do almost no time whatsoever.

 

[GAP]

Well, I'm glad to see that all the crocodile tears and wailing/knashing of sorrow is having the same effect on some people as it is on me. It's crap.....

 

[OldSolduer]

Oh lets be done with this. I'm sick of hearing about her.
Anybody want to guesse her poltiical views?

 

[Strike]

We watch the news all day in our office.  Everytime she or her mother are on we have to mute it.  Drives me nuts...more than those stupid tub commercials!

 

[Yrys]

Feds vow to get Canadian Woman out of Mexican prison

OTTAWA -- The Conservative government has vowed to get Brenda Martin home as quickly as possible after a Mexican court yesterday found the Ontario woman
guilty in an Internet fraud scheme. Martin, 51, of Trenton, has been emotionally distraught, sedated and suicidal during her nearly two years in a Guadalajara jail cell.
Her lawyer said she was "devastated" by yesterday's verdict. The court handed down a five-year jail sentence and a fine of 35,800 pesos, or about $3,680.

Secretary of State Jason Kenney said paper work for a prisoner transfer back to Canada is ready to roll, but Martin will have to waive her right to an appeal. He secured
a commitment from Mexican authorities to expedite her transfer, and said he will hold them to their word. "If she decides to apply for a transfer back to Canada, our
hope would be to have her home in this country as soon as possible," Kenney said. "It would be irresponsible for me to put a date on that, but we'll be doing everything
we can to make it happen as quickly as possible."

Kenney said the government sympathizes with Martin's plight, and recognizes she has been under emotional duress. He cautioned it will take some time to process the
transfer from Mexico. "We need to keep expectations realistic here, because transfers never happen overnight. It always takes some time, there are several steps that
need to be followed," he said. "Obviously, it's a very touching situation, we just hope she gets through this in good health."

Once she is transferred to Canada, Martin would likely be eligible for quick parole, as she would receive double credit for her pre-conviction jail time.

Liberal MP Dan McTeague called the verdict a "tremendous disappointment" and accused the Conservatives of abandoning Martin during her incarceration and then
bungling her case. He said the feds must warn Canadians about Mexico's denial of legal rights and its flawed justice system. "What we have seen here is an example of
what can and might happen to any other Canadian, so be careful," he said.

Meanwhile, Martin's family and friends feared for the worst after hopes were dashed for a quick release from jail. "She's in such a fragile state that I'm afraid that this
might just take her over the edge," her mother Marjorie Bletcher told CTV News.

Alyn Waage, formerly of Edmonton, masterminded the scheme called the Tri-West Investment Club which bilked 15,000 investors out of nearly $60 million between 1999-2001. Martin invested part of a severance payment into the business, but has consistently denied knowing it was an illegal fraud scheme.

Yesterday, the Mexican judge ruled she knew there were illicit funds involved.

Yup, but since our *cough* judges get to make their own laws/rules it seems, anyone doing "dead" time [which is pre-sentence time] will be awarded at least double, or even 3+ times credit, for that time served.

Therefore, according to our JUDGES, not our laws passed by our elected politicians, this person would have at least served 4+ years already of her sentence.

I CAN'T believe it. Mr. Monkhouse, if the journalist wasn't creating that sentence, you are right!

 

[ghyslyn]

Quick question, we know that she wasn't found innocent, but was she found guilty? If anyone wonders how I'm talking about this they should view the movie "12 angry men", it's a good movie that treats this question.

 

[geo]

In Mexican law, it's up to the defendant to prove that she is innocent.
She didn't do such a good job... and she's received a fine + sentence for her troubles.

That's what you get when you decide to go work for a crook.

 

[dapaterson]

In Mexican law, it's up to the defendant to prove that she is innocent.
She didn't do such a good job... and she's received a fine + sentence for her troubles.

That's what you get when you decide to go work for a crook.

... and work illegally in a country...

 

[geo]

... and work illegally in a country...

Ahhh.... Icing on the cake!

 

[40below]

In Mexican law, it's up to the defendant to prove that she is innocent.
She didn't do such a good job... and she's received a fine + sentence for her troubles.

That's what you get when you decide to go work for a crook.

Or go work in a place where the law is tenuous at best, but the money is good. What could possibly go wrong? I'm pretty tired of hearing about Brenda Martin.

My dad worked as a petrochemical engineer in Saudi, Bahrain and Nigeria during the early days, designing cat crackers and refining plants, and had to escort workers caught with bottles of booze from the jail to the aircraft even back then - and those were the days when the Muslims were grateful enough for international assistance that they'd pronounce sentence of a certain number of lashes but suspend it on the condition the Shell or BP worker convicted left immediately and could never return.

Today I've got friends working in UAE who moved over there with their live-in girlfriends – can't wait until the morality police kick down their door, and one day they surely will. I mean, there's a link about Sharia law on the UAE's official website stating that cohabitation with someone of the opposite sex to whom you are not married is a crime, and these people think the law of that country doesn't apply to them and won't ever be enforced. Someone else's country = someone else's rules. You don't like the laws, don't go there; certainly don't complain that Canadian law and rules of procedure didn't apply to your precious snowflake self afterwards.

 

[mariomike]

Update:
" 'Excessive' boozing lands Brenda Martin in hot water
New parole restrictions for Ontario woman returned to Canada from Mexican jail: KINGSTON, Ont. - A Trenton, Ont., woman jailed in Mexico then returned to Canada to serve out her sentence at home, is in trouble with parole authorities.":
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/12/04/12037541-sun.html

 

[GAP]

Brenda Martin freed — again
By QMI Agency
Article Link

BELLEVILLE, Ont. - Brenda Martin, the Ontario woman who garnered national attention while incarcerated in Mexico, has been released from a women's prison in Kitchener, Ont.

Brenda Martin, who spent two years in a Mexican prison, was released late last week.

After being released in Canada, she broke conditions of her parole when was arrested for public intoxication in January and was tossed back into jail.

Her latest release comes with conditions requiring her to undergo psychiatric counselling and to stay away from alcohol and drinking establishments.

Martin was serving time in Mexico for her involvement in a money-laundering scam spearheaded by her boss.

On May 1, 2008, the federal government arranged to have a private jet fly her home to Canada.


She spent only one week in a Canadian prison before being released on full parole.

Though Martin's location has not been made public, the parole board said she was released into a half-way house of her own choice.
end

 

[aesop081]

If she breaks her conditions again, can we send her back to Mexico ?

 

[GAP]

Should have left her there in the first place.....maybe she'll go back.