A 21-year-old Indian national who was living in the United States illegally has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for a devastating truck crash in Southern California that killed three people and injured several others.Jashanpreet Singh, who entered the United States illegally under the Biden administration, was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to three counts of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in connection with the October 2025 crash on Interstate 10 in Ontario, California, The New York Post reported.He had initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea last month. Prosecutors said he faced a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Truck slammed into stopped traffic without braking
According to investigators, Singh was driving a red semi-truck when he crashed into slow-moving traffic on the westbound 10 Freeway, causing a chain-reaction collision involving seven other vehicles.Dashcam footage and witness accounts indicated that the truck never appeared to brake or attempt to avoid the traffic ahead.“It didn’t stop. It didn’t swerve. It didn’t make any kind of maneuvers. It just went straight in,” witness Jason Calmelat told NBC Los Angeles, adding that the impact sounded like an explosion.The collision left the truck engulfed in flames and scattered debris across the freeway.California Highway Patrol officials described the aftermath as a large-scale crash scene involving hazardous materials.The victims included an elderly couple and another resident from Upland, California.
Immigration status and commercial licence under spotlight
Federal authorities said Singh entered the US illegally after crossing the southern border in 2022 and was later released pending immigration proceedings.Following his arrest after the crash, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged an immigration detainer against him.The California Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed that Singh held a California commercial driver’s licence. According to the US Department of Transportation, he obtained the licence in June 2025, and a restriction on it was removed on October 15, shortly after he turned 21. The fatal crash occurred six days later.Federal transportation officials said Singh should have been disqualified under emergency federal rules concerning commercial driver’s licence eligibility for certain non-citizens.California officials, however, maintained that his licence was issued based on federally recognised employment authorisation documents.
Federal government blames California
The case has sparked a political dispute over California’s commercial driver’s licence policies.US transportation secretary Sean Duffy accused the Gavin Newsom administration of failing to comply with new federal requirements, alleging that the state’s actions allowed Singh to continue driving commercially.“It would have never happened if Gavin Newsom had followed our new rules. California broke the law and now three people are dead and two are hospitalized. These people deserve justice,” Duffy said.Federal officials had previously warned California about compliance issues related to commercial driver’s licences and instructed the state to halt issuing new licences to certain non-citizens while reviewing existing approvals.In a separate case, another Indian national, Harjinder Singh, has been accused of causing a fatal truck crash in Florida after allegedly making an illegal U-turn through a restricted area.He faces multiple homicide and immigration-related charges. A Florida court granted his attorneys additional time to prepare for trial earlier this year.
