Driver acquitted in bikers’ deaths in New Hampshire pleads guilty to impaired driving in Connecticut

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A commercial truck driver who was acquitted in the 2019 deaths of seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire pleaded guilty and was sentenced Monday for driving under the influence in Connecticut a month before the deadly crash — an offense that should have resulted in his license being revoked.

Volodymyr Zhukovskyy appeared in Hartford Superior Court and entered an Alford plea, which means he did not admit guilt but acknowledged the state had enough evidence to win a conviction at trial. The plea results in a conviction, and he was sentenced to 18 months of probation.

“He clearly understands the significance of this,” Zhukovskyy’s lawyer, John O’Brien, said during the brief court proceeding.

Zhukovskyy, 29, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, only said “Guilty,” “Yes your honor” and “No your honor” during the hearing. O’Brien clarified it was an Alford plea. Zhukovskyy, wearing a taupe polo shirt under a taupe and white flannel shirt and black pants, did not comment entering or leaving the courthouse.

He was arrested for driving under the influence in East Windsor, Connecticut, on May 11, 2019. Connecticut officials alerted the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, but Zhukovskyy’s license wasn’t immediately suspended due to a backlog of out-of-state notifications about driving offenses.

Parse.ly - related stories

States sue to block Trump’s election order, saying it violates the Constitution

 

How a new Georgia bill could change the fate of domestic abuse survivors in prison

 

Underweight baby seal is rescued from Connecticut streets and recovering at an aquarium

 

East Windsor police said they responded to a call about a man revving his truck and then yelling outside of it. Officers said Zhukovskyy was acting erratically when they got there, including seeming hyperactive, He failed field sobriety tests, and he later tested positive for cocaine, police said.

On June 21, 2019, Zhukovskyy was driving a truck towing a flatbed trailer in Randolph, New Hampshire, that collided with the motorcyclists, killing seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, an organization of Marine Corps veterans and their spouses in New England.

Killed were Albert Mazza Jr., of Lee, New Hampshire; Edward and Jo-Ann Corr, a couple from Lakeville, Massachusetts; Michael Ferazzi, of Contoocook, New Hampshire; Desma Oakes, of Concord, New Hampshire; Daniel Pereira, of Riverside, Rhode Island; and Aaron Perry, of Farmington, New Hampshire.

A jury in 2022 found Zhukovskyy not guilty of multiple manslaughter and negligent homicide charges.

At his trial, prosecutors argued that Zhukovskyy — who had taken heroin, fentanyl and cocaine the day of the crash — repeatedly swerved back and forth before the collision and told police he caused it.

But a judge dismissed eight impairment charges. Zhukovskyy told authorities he didn’t think he was impaired at the time of the crash. His attorneys said the lead biker was drunk and not looking where he was going when he lost control of his motorcycle and slid in front of Zhukovskyy’s truck. The lead biker, Mazza, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.135%, well above the legal limit of 0.08%, according to his autopsy report.

Zhukovskyy, who came to the U.S. as a child from Ukraine and had permanent residency status, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the 2022 verdict. A judge ordered his deportation in 2023, but the U.S. paused repatriation flights to Ukraine due to the war with Russia and authorized temporary protected status for qualified Ukrainians.

As part of his Connecticut sentence for driving impaired, Zhukovskyy must perform 100 hours of community service and submit to random drug tests. If he violates probation, he could be sent to jail for six months. He told a New Hampshire judge last year that he had been sober for the previous five years.

In November, the owner of the trucking company Zhukovskyy worked for was sentenced to two months in prison for lying to investigators after the crash, including falsifying driver logs to avoid federal highway safety regulations and giving false statements on how long he had known Zhukovskyy,

___

This story has been corrected to show Zhukovskyy was ordered deported in 2023, not last year.