An owner of a now defunct trucking company has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges related to a tragic crash in New Hampshire that claimed the lives of seven motorcyclists. The individual, identified as Dunyadar Gasanov, 39, entered a guilty plea in Springfield, Massachusetts, to three counts of making false statements to federal investigators.
The trucking company in question, Westfield Transport, Inc., employed Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, a commercial truck driver involved in the fatal 2019 crash in northern New Hampshire. Gasanov was accused of falsifying driver logs to circumvent federal road safety regulations, including exceeding limits on driving hours.
Furthermore, Gasanov instructed at least one employee to falsify records by deactivating logging devices to surpass allowable driving hours and then lied about it to federal investigators. He also misled investigators by claiming he had only met Zhukovskyy on the day he was hired, despite knowing him for years and being aware of his prior drunken driving charge.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy emphasized the importance of ensuring that operators of commercial vehicles adhere to all required safety procedures and regulations to keep communities safe. Gasanov is set to be sentenced on November 21 and faces potential imprisonment, supervised release, and fines on each count.
In a separate development, Gasanov's co-defendant, Dartanayan Gasanov, has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial after both were indicted in 2021. Meanwhile, a jury in 2022 found Volodymyr Zhukovskyy not guilty of multiple manslaughter and negligent homicide charges related to the tragic collision that claimed the lives of seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club.
Following the crash, Zhukovskyy's Massachusetts license was automatically suspended in New Hampshire, and despite seeking reinstatement, an administrative law judge upheld the suspension until June 2026, seven years after the incident. Family members and survivors of the crash urged the judge to impose the maximum suspension, emphasizing that driving is a privilege, not a constitutional right.
