When Michael “Quinn” Levario drove drunk last spring, he wound up pinned beneath his SUV. The crash — which marked the fourth time in less than a decade that he’d driven while impaired — resulted in a fractured back, other broken bones, a helicopter flight to Billings and a lengthy recovery.

The May incident in rural Cody was not Levario’s first near-death experience behind the wheel, either: In 2021, court records say paramedics had to revive Levario with naloxone after he apparently overdosed on opioids and hit four different vehicles in Powell.

But following this spring’s rollover, Levario said he realized that, “I needed a change in my life.”

“It wasn’t like I’ve done before, where I just go to treatment to get out of jail,” the 27-year-old explained in Park County District Court last month. “I went for myself, because I was tired of the life I was living and the way I was treating people.”

Since May, Levario said he’s made his recovery his priority — completing an inpatient program, participating in drug court, regularly attending Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous meetings and moving into Ezekiel 37 Ministries’ sober living house. Levario said he had expected to go to prison for his felony DUI, but late last month, he instead received a stipulated sentence of three years of supervised probation.

At the Oct. 22 hearing, Park County District Court Judge Bill Simpson called Levario’s newfound sobriety “very good news.” In his remarks, the judge noted that many people who are sent to the state penitentiary come out with the same problems and reoffend.

“But if you can learn from this — and I think you have and you will — and you can maintain sobriety the rest of your life, you’re going to be a very positive and contributing member of society,” Simpson told Levario. “And that’s what we want.”

A potentially worse outcome

The crash was reported to law enforcement around 5:45 p.m. on May 1. Responding Park County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Tisdale wrote in an affidavit that he found Levario’s 2002 Chevy Suburban on its passenger side alongside Road 2AB. Levario had been partially ejected from the vehicle and was pinned by his upper body and head, the affidavit says. Numerous bystanders and first responders lifted the SUV off Levario and he was taken to Cody Regional Health before being flown on to Billings. Levario fractured his back in two places, broke or fractured most of his ribs and severely broke his collarbone, he has said. But he survived.

“Our thanks to everyone involved with the crash and subsequent rescue of the driver as this could have had a very different outcome,” the sheriff’s office later wrote in a Facebook post.

When questioned at the scene, Levario denied being the driver, claiming someone whose name he couldn’t recall had been behind the wheel.

“I’m really drunk, but I wasn’t the one driving,” Levario reportedly said.

His statements prompted deputies and bystanders to search the area multiple times, but they found no sign of another driver, and Tisdale later uncovered discrepancies in Levario’s story.

Authorities also found a vape pen in the SUV that preliminarily tested positive for THC and two empty bags from a marijuana dispensary.

Levario refused to provide a blood sample, the affidavit says, but a test conducted by Cody Regional Health personnel reportedly put his blood alcohol content at 0.307% — nearly four times the legal limit for driving.

Levario had previously been convicted of DUI in 2015, 2017 and 2021, and Park County prosecutors filed a felony charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol for a fourth time in 10 years plus a few misdemeanors. He was taken into custody on May 21, while his arm was still in a sling and he was in pain. 

“I know that I did mess up,” Levario offered at his first court appearance. 

He asked to be released on bail so he could continue healing from his injuries at home, but that request was opposed by then-Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Jack Hatfield.

Noting that Levario had driven without a required ignition interlock device just a few weeks prior to May’s rollover, Hatfield said the defendant had “demonstrated that no conditions are going to keep him from drunk driving, absent a high bond.”

Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah initially set bail at $25,000 cash, but enabled Levario to be released on a $15,000 surety bond on May 30, under various conditions. Levario took the opportunity to enter drug court and treatment.

Prepared to help others

Levario’s court-appointed attorney, Tim Blatt, sought to suppress the evidence of the hospital blood alcohol test in mid-October, arguing the sheriff’s office didn’t follow the implied consent laws, but the parties soon struck a deal.

In exchange for Levario’s guilty plea to the felony DUI, Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Laura Newton dismissed the misdemeanors and agreed to the probationary sentence. Although a misdemeanor third offense DUI carries a minimum of 30 days, a felony fourth offense has no minimum, which allowed Levario to serve only the 10 days of jail time.

At last months’ sentencing, Levario spoke at length about his commitment to his recovery, to his job and to his child.

“I feel like I have the ability to help people now, and I’ve never felt that way before,” Levario said. “So as much as I’m remorseful about what has happened, I’m grateful for it, because it made me pull my head out of my butt.”

Simpson said it all was “very encouraging.”

“I think your future looks very good,” the judge said, “but it will only be good if you continue to maintain your sobriety.”