Trucking company owner convicted on charges in crash that killed 7 cyclists – Boston News, Weather, Sports

BOSTON (AP) — The owner of a trucking company was sentenced Thursday to two months in prison followed by a year of probation for lying to investigators after one of his trucks was accused of causing a crash that killed seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire.

Dunyadar Gasanov, 39, pleaded guilty in August in Springfield, Massachusetts, to three counts of making false statements to investigators following a 2019 crash involving a driver for Westfield Transport Inc., an auto transport company he owns.

Gasanov was also prohibited from driving commercially during his probation and had to pay a $300 special assessment.

Gasanov was accused of falsifying driving records to evade federal highway safety regulations, including exceeding limits on the number of hours a driver could work. He also lied to federal investigators about instructing at least one employee to disable electronic recording devices in order to exceed permitted driving hours.

He was also accused of lying to investigators about how long he had known driver Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, who was detained by immigration authorities after being acquitted of causing the deaths in New Hampshire.

Zhukovskyy, who took heroin, fentanyl and cocaine on the day of the accident, told the police that he caused the accident by steering back and forth several times before the collision. But the judge dismissed eight counts of impairment charges, and his lawyers said the biker in front was drunk and wasn’t paying attention before pulling in front of Zhukovskyy’s truck, which was pulling an empty flatbed trailer.

Gasanov faced up to five years in prison, one year of supervised release and a $10,000 fine for each count. Co-defendant Dartanayan Gasanov has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Both were indicted in 2021.

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