Truck co-owner convicted of falsifying driving logs following fatal crash investigation

The co-owner of a Massachusetts trucking company was sentenced to two months in prison after pleading guilty to falsifying driving logs and lying to investigators in connection with a fatal June 2019 collision involving the driver of one of the company’s vehicles.

Dunyadar “Damien” Gasanov, 39, of West Springfield, co-owner of the now-defunct Westfield Transport, he pleaded guilty in August in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts to three counts of making false statements to federal investigators.

U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni also sentenced him to one year of supervised release, during which he is prohibited from driving commercial vehicles.

Federal prosecutors recommended a one-year prison sentence, according to a U.S. Department of Justice sentencing memorandum.

Court documents show Damien Gasanov also admitted lying about how long he knew Westfield Transport driver Volodymyr Zhukovsky, who in 2019 was involved in a fatal crash that killed seven motorcyclists from the Jarheads Motorcycle Club in Randolph, New Hampshire. . He also admitted that he knew from court documents that Zhukovsky had been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol many years before the accident.

The owner of a transport company pleads guilty to falsifying records in connection with a fatal motorcycle accident
Westfield Transport owners accused of falsifying driving logs

According to Westfield Transport business records filed with the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office, Dunyadar Gasanov, who was listed as the person overseeing Westfield Transport, was indicted in February 2021 along with his brother Dartanayan Gasanov, who has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting for the trial. In business documents filed with the state agency, Dartanayan Gasanov was president, treasurer, secretary and director of a closed trucking company.

“By falsifying safety records and lying to investigators, (Damien Gasanov) put profits ahead of public safety, with potentially devastating consequences,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement statement. “Compliance with federal safety regulations is critical to protecting public safety, and our office strives to hold accountable anyone who disregards them in this way.”

Westfield driver acquitted

In July 2022, a jury acquitted 30-year-old Westfield Transport driver Zhukovsky of killing seven members of the Jarheads motorcycle club. He was originally charged with seven counts of negligent homicide, seven counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of reckless conduct in the June 19, 2019, collision in rural New Hampshire.

However, marshals determined that Jarheads’ lead motorcyclist, Albert “Woody” Mazza, was disabled and off the center line of the road at the time of the collision. At the time of the accident, Zhukovsky was pulling an empty flatbed trailer. It was his first trip as a driver for Westfield Transport.

What happened?

Court documents show that from May 2019 to June 23, 2019, the owners of Westfield Transport allegedly falsified driving logs “in order to circumvent federal regulations designed to keep roads and drivers safe.”

In a lawsuit, Dunyadar Gasanov admitted that he instructed at least one Westfield Transport employee to falsify records in order to exceed the work hours limit. He then “made a false statement to a federal inspector regarding the manipulation of recording devices that track drivers’ on- and off-duty hours in order to circumvent regulations,” federal prosecutors allege.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an independent agency established to investigate the fatal accident, claims in his report that the owners of Westfield Transport tried to add Zhukovsky to their insurance policy an hour after the driver was involved in a fatal accident.

NTSB investigators also confirmed that Zhukovskyy was using paper journals on the day of the fatal accident.

Read more articles by Clarissa Hawes.

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