Photo: The Canadian Press

A jury on Tuesday acquitted a commercial truck driver of causing the 2019 deaths of seven motorcyclists in a head-on collision in northern New Hampshire.

Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 26, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, had pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of negligent homicide, manslaughter, driving under the influence, and reckless conduct, although some of the charges were dropped during the trial. He has been in jail since the crash on June 21, 2019, in Randolph.

His trial began on July 26.

The seven who died were part of a Marines motorcycle club and were from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They ranged in age from 42 to 62. They were part of a larger group that had just left a motel and were headed to an American Legion Post in Gorham for a fundraiser.

The jury deliberated for less than 3 hours before returning the verdict.

Prosecutors argued that Zhukovskyy, who had taken heroin, fentanyl and cocaine that day, repeatedly swerved back and forth before the head-on crash and told police he caused it. But a judge dismissed eight charges related to whether he was impaired, and his attorneys blame the lead biker, Albert “Woody” Mazza, who was among those killed.

“He was drunk, he was not looking where he was going, he lost control of his motorcycle and slid in front of Vlad Zhukovskyy’s truck. Al Mazza caused this accident. Vlad Zhukovskyy is not guilty,” defense attorney Jay Duguay said in closing statements.

“There is no doubt that this accident was a tragedy,” Duguay said. “But we are not here to decide whether or not this was a tragedy.”