Zhukovskyy remains behind bars pending immigration hearing - Western Massachusetts News

(WGGB/WSHM) - Volodymyr Zhukovskyy is still behind bars, even though a jury found him not guilty Tuesday of vehicular homicide in connection with the deadly motorcycle crash in New Hampshire in 2019. He waited three years for that verdict, but now, he has a new fight on his hands.

Zhukovskyy is the West Springfield truck driver accused of crashing into and killing seven motorcyclists back in June 2019. Despite being found innocent, he was still taken away from court on Tuesday in the back of a sheriff’s vehicle for possible deportation.

Western Mass News reached out to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a statement as to why he was being detained. It read, in part:

“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.”

Zhukovskyy is from Ukraine.

Local immigration attorney Carmina Fernandes said those prior convictions violate immigration laws, even if he is in the country legally.

“That Green Card or Permanent Resident Card is only an authorization by the United States government to stay here, so long as you don’t commit crimes or do other things,” Fernandes explained.

She told us the amount of attention this trial received might actually be one of the reasons why Zhukovskyy was detained since ICE doesn’t always have the resources to go after cases like his.

“That’s probably how immigration focused on his case,” Fernandes added.

Zhukovskyy will remain detained until his case is brought before an immigration judge. We reached out to the Department of Justice to learn when that will be, but we have not yet heard back.

Copyright 2022. Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.

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Zhukovskyy remains behind bars pending immigration hearing - Western Massachusetts News
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