Drunk driver Marco Muzzo denied parole because he underestimated his issues with alcohol

Parole board releases written decision on Muzzo Muzzo pleaded guilty in 2016 to charges laid in a 2015 crash that killed three children and their grandfather.

Marco Muzzo, the drunk driver who killed three children and their grandfather in a 2015 crash, was denied parole because he “severely” underestimated his issues with alcohol, according to the Parole Board of Canada’s written decision, which also reveals his plans to re-integrate into society would have included living with his fiancée and working.

A parole board panel denied Muzzo both day and full parole earlier this month. In its written decision, released Tuesday, the board also said that the 32-year-old was not transparent about problems caused by his drinking, including an altercation outside a nightclub that led to his arrest in 2012.

Muzzo was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016, after pleading guilty to four counts of impaired driving causing death and two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm in the Vaughan, Ont., crash.

The crash claimed the lives of Daniel Neville-Lake, 9, Harrison Neville-Lake, 5, Milly Neville-Lake, 2, and Gary Neville, 65. The children’s grandmother and great-grandmother were seriously injured.

The parole board noted that Muzzo has plenty of support from family and friends, as well as a plan to re-integrate into his community upon release. That plan includes working for his family’s company, living with his fiancée and marrying in the future, after their wedding was cancelled following the crash.

The written decision also notes that Muzzo has shown remorse and understands the pain his actions have caused. But the parole board found that Muzzo did not grasp the gravity of his drinking habits.

It specifically noted the 2012 incident in which Muzzo and a friend were barred from entering a club because of their level of intoxication.

“When you were denied entry, you and your friend began to fight with the bouncers and also threatened their lives,” the decision said.

When police were called and Muzzo was placed in the back seat of a police cruiser, he made “several attempts to kick the windows out,” according to the parole board.

The bar staff declined to press criminal charges, but Muzzo was charged with being intoxicated at a public place, the board said.

The incident was not mentioned during Muzzo’s trial and the parole board panel noted that suggested a lack of transparency on his part.

Muzzo initially suggested that he’d forgotten about the 2012 incident, but eventually admitted that he was hoping it would never be discovered, the board said.

“It would seem you were trying to present yourself as a modest and responsible drinker who had simply made a terrible mistake on the day of the fatal decision,” the written decision said.

“In the Board’s view, you intentionally failed to disclose key information as you were hoping to paint yourself in a better light. In reality, you were simply impeding the progress you might have otherwise made.”

The decision also noted that, prior to the deadly crash in 2015, Muzzo had 10 speeding offences on his record. He also told the board at one point that he felt he would need to consume “eight or nine drinks” before he would consider himself too impaired too drive.

He then altered his response to say that eight or nine drinks would make him “wasted.”

“In our view, it was clear you lack insight into the volume and frequency of your drinking and the risk it poses for you and others,” the board wrote.

Muzzo Parole Board Decision by CTV News on Scribd