 |
WINNIPEG -- A Winnipeg man sent to prison for his role in a brutal slaying in 2002 is being sought after he allegedly violated his statutory release conditions and disappeared.
Police are attempting to locate and arrest 24-year-old Chevy Ballentyne, who's wanted on at least one warrant.
Ballentyne, an alleged gang member, was granted statutory release Oct. 10 and ordered to abide by several conditions.
But police allege he violated those conditions and became a fugitive when he drank alcohol and walked away from a halfway house.
This is the second time Ballentyne's statutory release has been revoked. That kind of release is automatically granted to almost all federal prisoners after serving two-thirds of a sentence.
Convicted of manslaughter, Ballentyne is serving a 9 1/2-year term for his part in the death of Guy Joseph Pouliot, who was killed over a drug dispute on Nov. 2, 2002.
Ballentyne was 17 but his case was raised to adult court.
According to National Parole Board documents, Ballentyne and a second male assaulted Pouliot and coerced him to attend a home, where he was forced into the basement and beaten.
Pouliot, 46, was hogtied, whipped, punched, kicked and struck with wooden chairs, chair legs and a shovel, documents state.
Massive trauma
The victim died of his injuries, was rolled in a shower curtain and dumped behind an apartment at 519 William Ave.
Police tracked a trail of blood to a Kate Street home, where they believe he was slain.
Pouliot's injuries were severe -- a massive skull fracture, brain hemorrhage, broken ribs and sternum, and general massive trauma.
Days before, Ballentyne and Pouliot argued over compensation Pouliot was receiving for allowing Ballentyne to sell drugs from Pouliot's home, documents state. Pouliot was a known drug dealer.
Initially charged with second-degree murder, Ballentyne and Walter Sanderson, now 27, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to 9 1/2 years in November 2004. This was reduced to 51/2 years because of double-time credit for two years served in pre-trial custody.
Documents allege Ballentyne wasn't a model prisoner -- he racked up 33 institutional charges for assaulting and threatening inmates, and was allegedly involved in the prison drug trade.
Ballentyne was originally granted statutory release in June 2008. Three weeks later he was found in a vehicle with a gang member despite a condition barring him from having contact with known or suspected gang members, documents state.
He was returned to prison and lost an appeal.