The young man convicted of killing a Halifax teacher’s aide in a horrific car crash almost five years ago is being released.
But the National Parole Board doesn’t seem impressed about having to let 20-year-old Archie Billard go free, according to a decision released earlier this week.
He pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death and was sentenced as an adult to 4½ years in jail for the joyride that cost Theresa McEvoy her life. Billard, then 16, was high when he ran a red light in a stolen car, crashing into McEvoy’s station wagon at Connaught Avenue and Almon Street.
The fatal collision Oct. 14, 2004 killed the 54-year-old woman instantly.
“Your behaviour since being incarcerated has been less than stellar,” the decision made Monday and released Wednesday said. “Your actions while incarcerated are not indicative of someone who has made positive changes in life.”
That includes being caught for storing eight litres of bootleg liquor in his cell’s footlocker, the board points out.
“You did not follow the rules and regulations of the institution,” the decision reads. “You continue to portray yourself at times like an individual who has criminally ingrained values.”
The parole board had to release Billard from federal prison by law because he has served two-thirds of his full sentence. He will serve the last third in the community with conditions.
