Truck driver accused of being in the US illegally pleads not guilty in Florida crash that killed 3

Fort Lauderdale, Florida – A commercial truck driver accused of having made a illegal turnover who killed three people on a road in Florida last month renounced his first audience of appearance on Monday and pleaded not guilty, according to the judicial archives.

Harjinder Singh, originally from 28 years of India, is detained in the county of St. Lucie in Florida after being denied deposit for three homicide and immigration violations. Singh lived in California and initially issued a commercial driving license in Washington before California had one.

The repercussions of the accident led to a war of words between the Trump administration and the governor of California Gavin Newsom, and new strict rules for non-citizens to obtain commercial driving licenses. This policy was announced on Friday by the Secretary of Transport Sean Duffy.

Florida Highway Patrol said Singh tried to turn around on August 12 from the tracks north of the Florida Turnpike near Fort Pierce. A mini-duties which was behind the large Singh platform could not stop and crashed in the truck, killing his driver and two passengers. Singh and a passenger in the truck were not injured.

At a press conference last week, Duffy said that an audit made after the Florida crash showed that previous rules were not strict enough and that a number of states did not follow them in a coherent manner.

He said that Singh should never have received a commercial license due to his immigration status.

This review revealed that commercial driving licenses were incorrectly issued in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington. But Duffy said the problems were so blatant in California, where Singh’s license had been issued, that it threatened to draw $ 160 million in federal funding.

Neither Singh’s lawyer Natalie Knight-Tai nor prosecutor David Dodd responded to emails asking for comments on the case. The next step for Singh is a prerequisite call for Fort Pierce on Friday.