Fallen theatre mogal Garth Drabinsky wins full parole from Livent fraud sentence

It's been a mixed month for Garth Drabinsky.

The once powerful movie and theatre mogul may have lost his bid to reclaim his Order of Canada, but he'll finally be able to sleep in his own bed at home.

Drabinsky, who was jailed in 2011 for fraud, was granted full parole on Monday, the Toronto Star reports. Up to now, he was required to live in a halfway house four nights a week.

“We're satisfied your risk [of re-offending] is manageable,” Linda Lennon, one of the two Parole Board of Canada panel members who ruled on his application, told Drabinsky, the Star said.

Drabinsky, with business partner and friend Myron Gottlieb, was convicted in 2009 with falsifying the books of their company, Livent Inc. It went bankrupt in 1998 and investors lost an estimated $500 million.

He was released on day parole last February and first tried for full parole last December.

[ Related: Parole board unconvinced Garth Drabinsky has changed his ways ]

However, the parole board panel's initial hearing resulted in a split decision, with one member favouring release and the other apparently unconvinced Drabinsky would not lapse into the shady practices that landed him in prison.

The skepticism centred on his current activities as a consultant to the entertainment industry. His company, Ambassador Entertainment Inc., is handling sales and marketing for a Toronto condo development. But concerns were raised about work he was doing assessing film and theatre projects that might, in the jargon of corrections, be "related to the offence cycle."

The parole board panel's concerns were apparently allayed this time and Drabinsky, 64, now can leave the halfway house and live full-time at home with his wife.

“I will never forget my actions,” a grateful Drabinsky promised. “They will haunt me for the rest of my life. None of it will happen again.”

[ Related: Garth Drabinsky loses fight to reclaim Order of Canada ]

Earlier this month, Drabinsky lost a legal battle to get back his Order of Canada, which was awarded in 1995 but stripped away after his conviction.

A Federal Court judge found there was no basis for permitting a judicial review of the decision made by the Governor General on the recommendation of his advisory council, The Canadian Press reported.

"In my view, the council and the Governor General respected the applicable procedures, and provided Mr. Drabinsky a fair chance to make submissions opposing the termination of his Order of Canada," Judge James O'Reilly wrote in his decision.

"Therefore, there is no basis on which to overturn the Governor General's decision."

Drabinsky also still faces charges in the United States based on its investigation of the Livent debacle. Neither he nor Gottlieb showed up to answer the case and both face arrest if they set foot in the U.S.