A drunk driver sentenced to 10 years in prison in connection with a 2015 crash in Vaughan that claimed the lives of three children and their grandfather has been granted day parole.

In a statement released Tuesday evening, Parole Board of Canada spokesperson Holly Knowles confirmed that Marco Muzzo was granted day parole today following a parole hearing at the Beavercreek Minimum Security Institution in Gravenhurst, where he is serving his time.

Knowles said geographical restrictions are in place as part of the conditions of Muzzo’s release. He has also been barred from contacting the victims in the case, she said.

The parole board’s full written decision “will follow soon,” according to the statement.

Muzzo previously pleaded guilty to four counts of impaired driving causing death and two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm in connection with the crash that killed Daniel Neville-Lake, 9, Harrison Neville-Lake, 5, Milly Neville-Lake, 2, and their 65-year-old grandfather Gary Neville.

The children’s grandmother and great-grandmother were also seriously injured in the crash.

The 2015 crash occurred as Muzzo was returning from Pearson International Airport following a bachelor party in Miami.

“My family's killer, drunk driver Marco Michael Muzzo, has been granted day parole,” Jennifer Neville-Lake, the mother of the three children klled in the crash, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

The Parole Board of Canada had initially said that today’s hearing would go ahead without victim impact statements amid the COVID-19 pandemic but it reversed its decision following weeks of advocacy by the children’s mother.

The board later said that it had made “technological and procedural enhancements” in order to provide victims the ability to participate at hearings via telephone.

Jennifer Neville-Lake read her victim impact statement aloud in a video posted on Facebook this afternoon.

“The car seats and safety gear we had installed in our brand new vehicle were not enough to protect my family from the wanton, selfish and disgusting actions of the offender. My dead are beyond the count of grief,” she said.

“He has served just over one year for each of the deaths that he caused. It is just not fair that he can be released prior to serving all of the minimal sentence that he received for this destruction of my family. Please do not give this drunk driver any more privilege than he has already received.”

Muzzo calls his actions 'careless'

In a written statement released by his lawyers on Tuesday evening, Muzzo apologized to the families of the victims for the "terrible pain" he has caused.

“I ruined their lives and I take full responsibility for what I have done. I always will," Muzzo's statement read.

"I was careless and irresponsible when I made the choice to drink and drive. There is no way that I can undo the damage that I have caused. I will live with this for the rest of my life.”

In a message posted to Instagram on Tuesday, Neville-Lake included the number of days each of her children lived, alongside the number of days that Muzzo has been in custody – 1,656.

“He has served just over four years. Their killer wants out now. Again,” she said, including the hashtag #consequencesmatter.

This is the second parole hearing for Muzzo since he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in March of 2016.

At his first parole hearing on Nov. 7, 2018, Muzzo was denied both day parole and full parole.

The board stated in its decision at the time that Muzzo had “sabotaged” his rehabilitation by “severely underestimating” his problems with alcohol and failing to seek help while behind bars.

At that hearing, Muzzo vowed that he would never drink again.

“I should have known better but I took a chance,” he said while wiping away tears. “I felt fine but there was that slight grogginess.”

A toxicologist previously said that Muzzo was about three times over the legal limit at the time of the crash.