OTTAWA _ A prominent defence lawyer says his legal team will move swiftly if Brenda Martin isn't set free in the next few days.

Edward Greenspan says Martin, 51, has already done her time in a Mexican prison and any further delays in Canada are unacceptable.

``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.''

The National Parole Board says Martin was eligible for parole as soon as she returned to Canada on Thursday.

Spokeswoman Nadine Archambault-Chapleau says Martin qualifies for an accelerated parole review because she's a first-time federal offender serving a sentence for a non-violent crime.

The former Trenton, Ont., resident spent more than two years behind bars in a women's prison near Guadalajara, Mexico.

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.

Waage masterminded a fraud scheme called the Tri-West Investment Club that bilked 15,000 investors out of nearly US$60 million. He was arrested in 2001 and is now serving out a 10-year sentence at a low-security federal prison in Butner, N.C.

Martin worked as Waage's chef for 10 months at his Puerto Vallarta villa until he fired her in early 2001. She steadfastly claims she knew nothing of the scam.

Her plight garnered widespread media attention, pressuring the Canadian government to take up her case with Mexican officials. Ottawa eventually dispatched Conservative MPs Jason Kenney and Rick Norlock to Mexico.

A Mexican judge sentenced her April 22 to five years in prison and fined her 35,800 pesos, or about C$3,500.

But the wheels were already in motion for a speedy transfer to Canadian authorities.

Martin made an unexpected return to Canada on Thursday evening as a waiting media throng jockeyed for a glimpse of her stepping off a government-chartered Challenger jet and into a waiting black van.

Hourly aircraft rates obtained by The Canadian Press show the four-hour flight to Canada from Mexico could have cost about $40,000.

``I'm not aware of that issue,'' Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon repeated to reporters when asked Friday about the flight cost.

Martin is being held at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont.

Her new quarters differ markedly from 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.

Following a physical and psychiatric assessment by Correctional Service of Canada officials, Archambault-Chapleau says Martin's file will be handed over to a member of the parole board, who will interview her.

Should that official opt not to grant Martin parole, her file will be given to a pair of board members and a parole hearing will take place.

Archambault-Chapleau says Martin's time already served factors in to her parole eligibility.

``Under the Offender Transfer Act, turns out that she is eligible right away _ as of May 1, 2008, actually,'' Archambault-Chapleau said.

Greenspan, whose clients include Conrad Black, says a lawyer in his office is working on the case, and he would only get involved himself if it gets bogged down in bureaucratic red tape.

``I hope that there will be no bureaucratic red tape that will keep her in jail very long,'' he said.

``There's really no reason to keep her in for more than a few days to deal with this matter and we're hoping she'll be out next week.''

Longtime friend and advocate Debra Tieleman says Martin was effusive upon setting foot on Canadian soil.

``The first thing she said was 'Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you Canadians, thank you everyone.' She said, 'I love you all,''' Tieleman said.

``At first, I didn't even know who it was.''