Refugee Acquitted for Deaths of Five U.S. Marine Veterans, Their Spouses

A refugee from Ukraine with a prior drunk driving conviction was acquitted by a New Hampshire jury on all charges of negligent homicide for the deaths of five United States Marine Corps Veterans and two of their loved ones.

Following the fatal June 2019 crash, 26-year-old refugee Volodymyr Zhukovskyy of Ukraine, was charged with seven counts of negligent homicide for allegedly killing five U.S. Marine Corps Veterans and two of their loved ones when his trailer, hitched to his pickup truck, hit the motorcyclists.

The seven Americans were riding motorcycles together as members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, a group of U.S. Marine Corps Veterans, their spouses, and loved ones. Those killed in the crash are:

• 62-year-old Michael Ferazzi of Contoocook, New Hampshire
• 59-year-old Albert Mazza of Lee, New Hampshire
• 58-year-old Daniel Pereira of Riverside, Rhode Island
• 58-year-old Jo-Ann Corr of Lakeville, Massachusetts
• 58-year-old Edward Corr of Lakeville, Massachusetts
• 42-year-old Desma Oakes of Concord, New Hampshire
• 45-year-old Aaron Perry of Farmington, New Hampshire

This week, Zhukovskyy was acquitted of all charges related to the crash:

During his trial, the prosecution argued that Zhukovskyy took heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine before he swerved back and forth, and crashed into the motorcyclists. But a judge dismissed eight charges related to whether he was impaired, and his attorney had blamed the lead biker, Albert “Woody” Mazza, saying he lost control of his motorcycle and collided with the truck while driving drunk. [Emphasis added]

Zhukovskyy’s commercial driving license should have been revoked in Massachusetts at the time of the crash because of a drunken driving arrest in Connecticut about two months earlier. [Emphasis added]

Connecticut officials alerted the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, but Zhukovskyy’s license wasn’t suspended due to a backlog of out-of-state notifications about driving offenses. [Emphasis added]

Zhukovskyy has been placed into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and an agency official detailed his extensive criminal record before the fatal crash.

“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,” the ICE official said.

At the time of the crash, a law enforcement official confirmed to Breitbart News that Zhukovskyy originally entered the United States on September 18, 2006, as a refugee from Ukraine. He was later able to adjust his refugee status in 2008 and secure a green card.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.