John Jefferson
Insets, clockwise from top left: Jo-Ann and Edward Corr; Desma Oakes; Michael Ferazzi; Daniel Pereira; Albert Mazza; Aaron Perry (New Hampshire Attorney General). Background: The scene of the deadly crash in New Hampshire (New Hampshire State Police).
The former owner of a Massachusetts trucking company has pleaded guilty to charges related to a crash that killed seven motorcycle riders in New Hampshire.
Dunyadar “Damien” Gasanov, 39, entered his plea on Tuesday to three counts of making false statements to federal investigators, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced in a news release. His former company, Westfield Transport, Inc., employed the driver, Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 28, who was involved in the June 21, 2019, crash. The company has since shut down.
“Keeping communities safe takes all forms. In this case, it is about making sure that operators of commercial vehicles adhere to all required safety procedures and regulations,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement. “We will not forget the lives in June 2019 that relate to this conviction. This defendant flouted those laws that are critical to public safety, and he jeopardized everyone on the road, with tragic consequences here.”
Gasanov was indicted in February 2021, accused of falsifying driving logs to evade federal roadway safety regulations from May 3, 2019, to June 23, 2019, prosecutors said. He instructed at least one employee to falsify records, including the number of permissible driving hours, and made false statements to federal inspectors about manipulating recording devices that track drivers’ hours, authorities said.
He also admitted he lied to inspectors that he had only met Zhukovskyy the day he hired him when he had actually known him for years — and knew he had been charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol years earlier, prosecutors said.
A lawyer for Gasanov, Peter Slepchuk, had no comment, The Associated Press reported.
The crash happened when a pickup truck towing a vehicle-hauling trailer crossed the centerline of U.S. Route 2 and collided with motorcycle riders from the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, a group of Marine Corps veterans, traveling in the opposite direction. Killed were Jo-Ann and Edward Corr, both 58; Desma Oakes, 42; Aaron Perry, 45; Michael Ferazzi, 62; Albert Mazza, 59; and Daniel Pereira, 58.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the driver of the truck was impaired by several drugs and had a suspended license in Connecticut at the time of the crash. The NTSB also found that the driver’s employer failed to complete even the most fundamental task a motor carrier is required to accomplish to ensure that it employs properly qualified drivers. The carrier’s managers and drivers also routinely tampered with electronic logging devices and falsified hours-of-service logs, the NTSB said.
Zhukovskyy was charged days later with seven counts of negligent homicide, and his Massachusetts license was automatically suspended in New Hampshire. He admitted to an investigator to having used heroin and cocaine on the morning of the crash, according to a report from the New Hampshire Department of Safety.
He was ultimately found not guilty in the case in 2022, in what New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu called a tragedy.
“I share in the shock, outrage, and anger that so many have expressed in the three years since the seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club were taken from us,” he said in a statement at the time. “My heart goes out to their families, friends, and loved ones on this especially dark day.”
Zhukovskyy’s defense attorney, Jay Duguay, blamed the crash on the lead motorcyclist, Mazza, saying he was drunk and crossed over the centerline, local ABC affiliate WMUR reported.
“From the beginning of this investigation, the state had made up their mind about what had happened, evidence be damned,” Duguay said. “They came to erroneous conclusions about how the accident occurred within 24 hours of the accident and didn’t even pretend to conduct an actual investigation.”
Survivors, meanwhile, have been fighting to keep Zhukovskyy off the road as his license is suspended in New Hampshire at least until 2026.
“You killed five Marine Corps veterans and two spouses due to your negligent behavior and the decisions that day,” Dawn Brindley, who survived the crash, appealed to a judge in emotional testimony, the Boston Herald reported.
Gasanov faces five years imprisonment, one year of supervised release and a $10,000 fine on each count when he is set to be sentenced on Nov. 21. His brother, Dartanayan Gasanov, is a co-defendant in the case awaiting trial, prosecutors said.
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