WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) — Volodymyr Zhukovskyy was found not guilty on Tuesday for the deaths of seven motorcyclists. Now, he’s in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
A jury in New Hampshire acquitted the 26-year-old Ukrainian of multiple counts of negligent homicide, manslaughter, and other charges. They deliberated for less than three hours before returning the verdict. He has been in jail since June 2019 and will remain behind bars pending an immigration hearing.
ICE The following is a statement sent to NEWS10’s sister station in Springfield:
In June 2019, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston issued an immigration detainer with the Coos County Jail in West Stewartstown, New Hampshire for Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 26, a citizen of Ukraine.
Zhukovskyy has an extensive criminal history including three prior convictions of charges that included Possession of Cocaine and Heroin, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Driving Under Suspension, Furnishing False Information to an Officer and Larceny.
He was taken into ICE custody at the Grafton County Department of Corrections facility in North Haverhill, New Hampshire and was served a Notice to Appear on Aug. 9, 2022
He is in ICE custody pending his appearance before an immigration judge.
At trial, defense attorneys successfully argued that the head-on collision was caused by the lead biker of the group whose blood alcohol content was close to twice the legal limit. Zhykovskyy was found to have taken heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine on the day of the crash.