After the governor and attorney general of New Hampshire condemned the not guilty verdict of a truck driver involved in a fatal accident with motorcyclists, officials are withholding his CDL and threatening deportation. Prosecutors in the case argued the trucker had taken heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine earlier. The defense argued the lead motorcyclist was intoxicated at the time of the accident and slid into the semi.
“The motor vehicle crash has been high-profile and has affected an inordinate number of family and friends of the victims and stands to reason to be at the root of elevated emotions for all,” New Hampshire prosecutor Stephen Kace stated in a court action.
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, a 28-year-old Ukrainian national living in West Springfield, Massachusetts, petitioned the New Hampshire Department of Safety in September to hold a hearing to restore his license so that he could earn a living as a commercial truck driver. The hearing has been postponed twice, and he’s still waiting. New Hampshire officials indicate he has an unresolved DUI issue in Connecticut.
In the backdrop of this slow bureaucratic process, Zhukovskyy has not been convicted or pled guilty to a single charge. Meanwhile, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu publicly denounced the not guilty jury verdict, saying the seven motorcyclists who died in the crash “did not receive justice.”
The tragic accident occurred in 2019 when Zhukovskyy’s big rig reportedly was involved in a collision that killed seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, which consists of U.S. Marine Corps veterans and their families. The trucker, who came to the U.S. when he was 10 years old and holds permanent residency status, has a history of brushes with the law but no convictions, according to reports.
The legal hijinks have evolved into a head-spinning quagmire of contradictions, negatively impacting a trucker who cannot earn a living. In the fatal New Hampshire collision, he was charged and acquitted of multiple manslaughter and negligent homicide. His CDL was automatically suspended upon arrest but not restored after the trial. He was also detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being arrested in 2019 and later released per a court order.
In February 2023, another judge ordered his immediate deportation despite no convictions. Officials could potentially revoke his CDL if they decide he was “materially” responsible for the fatal accident, even though a jury found him not guilty of all charges.
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