A California semi-truck driver pleaded guilty after prosecutors say he was high when he triggered an eight-vehicle crash that killed three people

California man Jashanpreet Singh, 21, pleaded guilty on July 9, 2026, to three counts of felony vehicular manslaughter after a devastating multivehicle pileup in Ontario, California. Singh initially entered a plea of not guilty, but when he finally changed it to guilty, other aspects of the case — like the allegation that he was on drugs and his immigration status — took center stage.

Back on Oct. 21, 2025, Singh was just another California trucker, and it was just another workday. Reportedly, he was speeding westbound on Interstate 10 in Ontario, but when he encountered traffic ahead of him, Singh failed to slow down. Instead, his truck plowed directly into the vehicles in front of him, causing a devastating multivehicle crash that killed three people and injured four more.

His bloodwork came back clean

Singh’s initial plea of not guilty rested on the primary legal justification of contesting the allegation that he was driving under the influence at the time of the crash. Singh’s public defender maintained his innocence against allegations that intoxication was the root cause of the crash.

According to NBC LA, that initial plea was validated in November 2025 after comprehensive toxicology bloodwork came back completely negative for any substances in Singh’s system. Once the DUI allegation was disproven in court, Singh’s defense shifted its focus to the remaining counts of gross negligence in the operation of the vehicle, charges to which he ultimately changed his plea to guilty.

However, before the DUI allegations were even resolved, Singh’s case became part of the wide-ranging debate about immigration policies during the Joe Biden administration. According to the California Post, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had lodged a detainer against Singh and identified him as an Indian national who entered the country through the southern border in 2022.

He self-identified as an asylum seeker, but many conservative leaders and influencers used Singh’s case as an example of what they viewed as the failure of Biden’s immigration policy.

The U.S. Department of Transportation immediately took to X to argue that California should never have issued Singh a commercial driver’s license (CDL) owing to his immigration status. California Gov. Gavin Newsom retorted that the Donald Trump administration was trying to score “cheap political points” using a tragedy.

Newsom partly wrote, “The FEDERAL government approved and renewed this individual’s FEDERAL employment authorization multiple times — which allowed him to obtain a commercial driver’s license in accordance with FEDERAL law.”

This is tragic, and as with every tragedy over the last ten months, Secretary Noem has ordered Secretary Duffy to look for every opportunity to manipulate the facts to score cheap political points.

But the facts remain:

– The state does not determine commercial driver’s… https://t.co/x465iNU6Am

— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) October 23, 2025

The San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office identified Clarence Nelson, 76, and his wife, Lisa Nelson, 69, as two of the three people pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. According to The Fresno Bee, Clarence Nelson was highly respected in Fontana’s local sports scene and even served as an assistant basketball coach at Pomona High School. The third victim’s name was not released to the public.

Under California law, felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence carries a maximum sentence of six years per count. Because his DUI charges were dropped, Singh is now looking at a less harsh sentence, but it will remain at the judge’s discretion whether his sentences should be served concurrently or consecutively.