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.
The National Parole Board slapped stricter conditions on Brenda Martin after "recurring incidents of excessive alcohol consumption," according to a parole document.
She was convicted of fraud and served two years behind bars before the Canadian government stepped in, after a vocal public campaign by supporters who suggested she was the victim of a corrupt Mexican justice system.
Martin maintained her innocence and in early May, 2008, she was flown back to Canada on a private jet at a cost to taxpayers of $83,000. She was sent to a federal women's prison in Kitchener, and was paroled within a week with just two special conditions attached to her release.
She was ordered to disclose all financial dealings to her parole supervisor and she was ordered not to associate with criminals.
Last week, the parole board imposed four new conditions. Correctional Service staff recommended the measures because of "difficulties recently encountered during your release."
"There have been recurring incidents of excessive alcohol consumption commencing in July, 2009, and you were heavily under the influence when you engaged in (deleted) behaviour by (deleted) on September 16, 2009," the document states.
When Martin was paroled in May, a document noted that she had a drunk driving conviction in 1993.
"You are not emotionally stable but you are amenable to treatment to help you deal with the stress and depression," the Nov. 24 report notes.
Martin has been ordered to:
o follow psychological counselling arranged for her;
o follow a treatment plan and counselling to be arranged by her parole supervisor to address difficulties with "substance abuse;"
o stay out of bars and other places where the primary business is alcohol sales;
o abstain from drinking.
The parole board refused to impose a psychological counselling condition when she was freed in May, despite a recommendation from Corrections staff.
The latest parole document also reveals, without providing details, that Martin is now staying at a halfway house.
"While you appear to have responded favourably to the enhanced supervision and the additional structure provided by the halfway house, your insight into your offence cycle is oscillating and you remain fragile," the document states.
Martin's five-year prison sentence expires in February, 2011.
She was convicted in Mexico of knowingly taking cash from Alyn Waage, a Canadian convicted in 2006 in a $60-million scam.
Martin worked as Waage's chef in Puerto Vallarta for 10 months.
