A man who axed a Surrey teen in the back of the neck, paralyzing him, has been released from jail.
Enrique Quintana was 17 years old in October 2006 when he and some friends went to a party at Tynehead Community Hall. They surrounded teen Michael Levy, broke a bottle over his head and punched him in the head.
Quintana then struck Levy three times in the neck with a hatchet – including a blow that severed his spinal column – and sprayed him with bear spray. Quintana left the hall and returned to kick Levy, who was lying on the floor bleeding.
Quintana’s sentence of seven-and-a-half years began in February 2008.
Offenders who are not serving life or indeterminate sentences are released automatically on a supervised “statutory release” when their sentences are two-thirds complete. Quintana’s statutory release date was last Wednesday (March 13).
Now 23, his time in custody has been riddled with trouble and violence, according to Parole Board of Canada reports. Shortly after his incarceration in 2008, he was transferred from a medium- to high-security facility after assaulting another inmate in a sw
arming similar to the Levy attack.
In July 2012, the parole board denied Quintana’s bid for both full and day parole, noting several inmate assaults and involvement in the prison drug trade.
And as recently as last December, Quintana was placed in segregation and returned to a high-security institution after punching a prison food server in the face.
The parole board also said Quintana continues to deny aspects of the Levy attack, including kicking him when he was seriously injured on the ground, and still lacks insight into his violence and emotional instability.
Quintana was one of three teens convicted and sentenced as adults in connection with the attack.
Tuan “Tony” Minh Nguyen was sentenced to 20 months house arrest for punching Levy and initiating the assault. Robert Alexander Green, 18 at the time of the attack, received three years in jail for hitting Levy with a bottle.
During his release, Quintana must report to a parole officer and follow special conditions, including living at a halfway house, not consuming alcohol or non-prescription drugs and not associating with anyone involved with crime or substance abuse.
He must also have no contact with the Levy family, who the parole board said Quintana had dealt “a severe burden they must endure for the rest of their lives.
“They deserve the right to remain free of any contact of any sort with you,” said the board.
Quintana’s statutory release (and sentence) will end on Sept. 28, 2015.
