Illegal immigrant, 21, trucker gets slap-on-the-wrist sentence after horror SoCal crash killed 3 Archive | Article
By Ben Chapman Published July 14, 2026, 6:34 p.m. ETAn illegal migrant truck driver who killed three people after plowing into several vehicles on a Southern California freeway has been sentenced to less than five years in prison for the horrifying wreck.
Jashanpreet Singh, 21, an Indian migrant who entered the US under the Biden administration, smashed into seven other vehicles on the 10 Freeway in Ontario in October 2025.
Singh pleaded guilty to three counts of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for the crime last week. He faced up to 10 years in prison, but was sentenced Tuesday to four years and eight months.
Prosecutors said Singh changed his plea last month from not guilty to guilty.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged an immigration detainer against Singh following his October arrest.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed Singh held a California commercial driver’s license, according to NBC Los Angeles.
Singh smashed into seven other vehicles on the 10 Freeway in Ontario in October 2025.
A witness told the outlet that he heard what sounded like an explosion as Singh’s red semi-truck sped toward stopped traffic.
“It didn’t stop. It didn’t swerve. It didn’t make any kind of maneuvers. It just went straight in,” Jason Calmelat said.
Traffic on the westbound freeway had slowed moments before the collision, but Singh’s truck did not stop before setting off the deadly chain reaction, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol said.
“The truck rolled and veered to the right into the embankment, and I saw the truck drive jump out because it was on fire,” Calmelat added.
CHP Officer Rodrigo Jimenez described the hellish aftermath of the wreck.
“It was one of those crashes where there were car parts everywhere. We had a hazardous material incident. It was a very large scene,” Jimenez told NBC LA.
Singh pleaded guilty last week to three counts of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
Since Singh’s arrest, the Trump administration has enacted a decisive “zero releases” policy, ensuring that apprehended illegal migrants are immediately detained or swiftly deported rather than being turned loose into the US while awaiting immigration hearings.
The US Department of Transportation blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration for the deadly wreck, which killed an elderly couple and an Upland resident.
A report from the agency alleged that the state unlawfully upgraded Singh’s driver’s license in response to a federal law passed mere weeks before the crash that barred illegal migrants from holding commercial licenses.
The DOT claimed that Singh’s driving rights were suddenly promoted from a restricted Commercial Driver’s License to an expanded one when the law went into effect. The day Singh’s new license was issued coincided with his 21st birthday.
“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,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
Another illegal immigrant from India, Harjinder Singh, was also accused of killing three people after he allegedly made an illegal U-turn with an 18-wheeler through a restricted zone in Florida over the summer.
Singh, who was operating under a California-issued Commercial Driver’s License at the time, faces a laundry list of homicide and immigration violation charges.
A Florida judge granted a continuance of his case in May after his attorneys asked for more time to prepare for the case.
footage of the crash:
We will make sure 
... those criminal 