2008-05-09 23:58:07 -

TORONTO (AP) - A Canadian woman sentenced in Mexico to five years in prison for her involvement in an Internet scam was released on parole Friday a week after returning to Canada on an inmate transfer, her lawyer said.
Brenda Martin was released on parole from an Ontario women's prison earlier Friday, her lawyer Guillermo Cruz

Rico said.
Martin, 51, returned to Canada earlier this month after being jailed in Mexico in a case that sparked outrage among Canadians.
She spent two years in prison in Mexico before being sentenced last month to five years for her participation in an Internet-based fraud investment scheme run by a fellow Canadian who employed her as a cook in the Latin American nation.
As a first-time offender serving a sentence for a nonviolent crime, Martin was eligible for an accelerated parole review in Canada. Martin's time served was a factor in determining her parole eligibility.

Martin's case was highly publicized in Canada, with the media frequently urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government to intervene on her behalf. She was transferred to a Canadian prison last week after both governments approved her request to be transferred from Mexico.
Her former employer, Alyn Waage, was sentenced to 10 years in U.S. federal prison in 2005 after pleading guilty in an international Internet fraud scheme that bilked 15,000 investors of nearly US$60 million.
Waage said in a sworn affidavit that Martin knew nothing about the scheme.