A Ukrainian man who was driving a commercial truck through Wyoming on a humanitarian immigration visa when he caught black ice and crashed into another truck — killing its passenger — was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in jail and one year probation.
Borys Bakhtiarov was also fined $1,000 and ordered to pay $220 in court costs and fees.
The sentence was for vehicular homicide, a misdemeanor to which Bakhtiarov pleaded no contest Tuesday.
It’s punishable by a maximum of one year in jail and $2,000 in fines. But Bakhtiarov had a plea agreement in place in which the prosecutor, Carbon County Deputy Attorney Mark Nugent, agreed to argue for no more than 90 days in jail — with four days’ credit for the time Bakhtiarov has already served — and one year unsupervised probation.
Bakhtiarov appeared tearful and wiped his eyes with one hand during his Tuesday sentencing hearing in Rawlins Circuit Court. He voiced deep regret for the death of 70-year-old Mary Couch.
“I understand I will have to live with this for the rest of my life,” Bakhtiarov told the court, via an interpreter. “I deeply regret about what happened, and I wish (the victim’s families) were here because I would do anything absolutely anything to help them, to help alleviate their pain in some way.”
Some of the victim’s family members appeared at the hearing via a virtual link, but declined to speak in court, though two of them submitted victim impact statements to Rawlins Circuit Court Judge Susan Stipe.
Where We Diverge
The prosecutor and defense did not dispute that Bakhtiarov lost control of his commercial truck in Carbon County the morning of March 15, crossed the median and crashed into a red Freightliner truck, killing its passenger and injuring its driver, James Byars.
Couch was pronounced dead on scene. She’d been in the truck’s sleeper cab.
But differing narratives about what Bakhtiarov did in those fleeting moments between the slip and the collision surfaced in court.
Nugent said that after the crash when speaking with law enforcement personnel, Bakhtiarov “admitted he closed his eyes and did nothing, not even braking as the vehicle jackknifed and spun.”
Bakhtiarov’s defense attorney Rendy Lemke, conversely, said Bakhtiarov was only going 55 mph in the 80 mph zone when he caught the ice, and did everything he could to maintain control of the rig, including gripping the wheel and braking.
“At some point — in those few seconds — he realized he was not able to regain control of the vehicle,” said Lemke. “He believes that’s probably the split second he knew he had no more control over this accident, and that is possibly when he closed his eyes, though he cannot tell you for sure.”
Free To Travel
Lemke argued against jail time, noting that Bakhtiarov’s family in Ukraine is of “low socioeconomic status” and his 20-year-old daughter, whom he’s been supporting, has been unable to find work back in Ukraine. He’s also been supporting his 75-year-old mother who is “terminally ill with dementia,” said Lemke.
He came to the United States in 2023 under a “U4U,” or United for Ukraine, visa designed to offer humanitarian, temporary refuge for people fleeing the war in Ukraine, the attorney said.
The program allows people to stay in the U.S. for up to two years, she added.
Stipe warned Bakhtiarov that she could disregard the plea agreement and sentence him to the full year in jail if she wished. But ultimately, she adhered to the plea agreement and opted for Nugent’s recommendation instead of Lemke’s.
“Certainly, tragic results for a situation that involved what did appear to be very poor driving,” said Stipe. “The winter conditions here in Wyoming are pervasive, strong and dangerous.”
Black ice snags happen “with frequency” on Wyoming roads, she said. Even so, the judge added that she needed to take into consideration the loss of Couch, “A mother and a grandmother, who is no longer with us and able to move forward.”
Even the maximum the law would have allowed, a year in jail, “pales in comparison to what the family is going to have to endure going forward, due to the criminal activity you’ve come forward and taken responsibility for here before the court today,” said Stipe.
Bakhtiarov’s accountability also entered her considerations, she said.
Stipe listed a number of probation conditions, such as checking in and staying sober (there were reportedly no mind-altering substances in Bakhtiarov’s system at the time of the crash). But she told Bakhtiarov twice that she wouldn’t put travel restrictions on the probation.
He can return to Ukraine when he gets out of jail in October if he wishes, the judge said.
In This Administration
Lemke noted a political change that has unfolded since Bakhtiarov was charged.
The Trump administration has withdrawn Obama-era guidance that for nearly a decade forbade commercial truck inspectors from pulling non-English-proficient truckers out of service.
Under federal regulations, truckers must know enough English to read road signs, converse with the general public and keep their logs.
“If an ordinary citizen were to read the media reports, it would appear there are CDL holders that have no capability of reading or writing or understanding the English language,” said Lemke, as she stood next to Bakhtiarov. “But in order to obtain a valid CDL, or commercial driver’s license, the applicant must pass a series of tests to demonstrate English proficiency to read street and highway signs.”
However, current CDL testing regulations do not prohibit states from issuing the knowledge skills test in multiple languages, the Federal Carrier Safety Administration told Cowboy State Daily in March.
Lemke said that after he entered the country, Bakhtiarov “enrolled in and successfully completed the requirements to obtain a commercial driver’s license.”
He likely won’t be seeking a CDL now, she said, and he’s been working in the construction industry.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
