Driver in deadly Ohio crash spoke no English as Trump admin vows commercial truck license crackdown
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy details the Trump administration’s crackdown on commercial driver’s licenses issued to illegal immigrants. The effort follows a fatal Ohio crash involving an Uzbek national who authorities said spoke no English, as well as the death of a Pennsylvania state trooper struck by a Haitian national with a Massachusetts commercial driver’s license. Duffy argues those licenses should be revoked to help keep America’s roads safe.
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A 21-year-old Indian national who federal authorities said was in the U.S. illegally was sentenced Tuesday to four years and eight months in prison for causing a fiery Southern California crash that killed three people last year.
Jashanpreet Singh pleaded guilty to three felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence stemming from the October 2025 crash, according to NBC Los Angeles.
Authorities said Singh was driving a semitruck that plowed into slow-moving traffic on Interstate 10 in San Bernardino County, killing three people and injuring several others.
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Jashanpreet Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, was arrested in connection with a deadly crash on the I-10 Freeway in San Bernardino County, Calif., on Oct. 21, 2025. (Bill Melugin/via X,ICE)
Digital previously reported that Singh is an illegal immigrant from India who crossed the southern border in 2022 and was released into the United States by the Biden administration.
According to federal sources, Singh was first encountered by Border Patrol agents in California’s El Centro Sector in March 2022 and released pending an immigration hearing.
The crash, which was captured on dashcam video, showed Singh never applying the brakes before slamming into traffic, according to investigators.
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Emergency crews respond after a semitruck crashed into traffic on Interstate 10 in San Bernardino County, California, on October 21, 2025. (San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office High Tech Crimes Unit via AP)
Singh obtained a California commercial driver’s license in June 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
In September, federal officials warned California they had uncovered compliance issues involving commercial driver’s licenses and directed the state to make corrections, including pausing the issuance of new licenses to non-citizens and reviewing existing licenses to ensure they complied with federal requirements.
Anyone who did not meet the criteria was supposed to have their license revoked.
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Jashanpreet Singh was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to causing a fiery Southern California crash that killed three people. (San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office High Tech Crimes Unit via AP; Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images)
Federal officials said Singh should have been disqualified under an emergency Department of Transportation policy. California officials said Singh’s CDL eligibility was based on federally approved employment authorization documents, while federal transportation officials said he should have been disqualified under new emergency rules. However, on Oct. 15, after he turned 21, a restriction on his commercial driver’s license was removed.
Just six days later, authorities said Singh was driving the semitruck involved in the deadly crash.
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Toxicology testing later confirmed Singh was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Digital’s Greg Wehner, Jasmine Baehr and Michael Ruiz, along with ‘ Bill Melugin, contributed to this report.
