Driver in deadly Ohio crash spoke no English as Trump admin vows commercial truck license crackdown
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy outlined the Trump administration’s push to tighten scrutiny of commercial driver’s licenses issued to illegal immigrants. The crackdown comes after a deadly crash in Ohio involving an Uzbek national who officials said did not speak English, along with the death of a Pennsylvania state trooper who was hit by a Haitian national carrying a Massachusetts commercial driver’s license. Duffy has said such licenses should be canceled as part of a broader effort to improve safety on U.S. roads.
A 21-year-old Indian national whom federal officials said was in the U.S. illegally was sentenced Tuesday to four years and eight months behind bars for triggering a fiery crash in Southern California last year that left three people dead.
Jashanpreet Singh admitted guilt to three felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence tied to the October 2025 collision, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Investigators said Singh was behind the wheel of a semitruck when it barreled into slow-moving traffic on Interstate 10 in San Bernardino County, killing three people and leaving several others injured.
Jashanpreet Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, was taken into custody after a fatal crash on the I-10 Freeway in San Bernardino County, Calif., on Oct. 21, 2025. (Bill Melugin/via X,ICE)
INC News previously reported that Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, crossed the southern border in 2022 and was later released into the U.S. by the Biden administration.
Federal sources said Singh was initially encountered by Border Patrol agents in California’s El Centro Sector in March 2022 before being released while awaiting an immigration hearing.
Dashcam footage of the crash showed Singh failing to brake before crashing into traffic, investigators said.
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.
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.
Toxicology testing later confirmed Singh was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
