MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — An Indian-origin truck driver has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement months after pleading guilty to a fatal crash that sent a Pennsylvania man’s vehicle off a bridge and into Cheat Lake earlier this year.

Authorities report that Sukhjinder Singh,

 who pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter in October, is now being held in ICE custody at the North Central Regional Jail as officials evaluate possible deportation. Singh had been sentenced to the statutory maximum of one year in jail for the January crash that killed Kevin Lataille, a Pennsylvania resident who was reported missing while driving home from work in West Virginia. After an extensive week-long search, Lataille’s body and vehicle were discovered submerged in Cheat Lake.

investigators initially arrested another man with the same name before later apprehending the correct suspect. Singh told police he lost control of his truck due to heavy snowstorm conditions. Surveillance footage, however, showed a large tractor-trailer sliding across a bridge, pushing snow into the air, immediately followed by a passenger car plunging from the bridge into the lake. Detectives determined Singh was operating at an unsafe speed on the snow-covered roadway, and witnesses described his driving as “reckless and even criminal.”

Further investigation revealed that Singh’s tractor had struck another vehicle shortly before reaching the bridge and failing to stop. Damage found on Lataille’s vehicle — particularly along the driver’s side rear — matched the type of impact investigators concluded came from Singh’s truck, which ultimately forced the vehicle off the bridge and into Cheat Lake, as previously reported by CBS News.

The case comes at a time when Punjabi truck drivers in the United States have faced intensified scrutiny amid allegations that some obtained commercial driver’s licenses without properly completing required examinations. Singh’s involvement in the deadly crash has added to ongoing concerns surrounding licensing oversight and training standards for commercial drivers.

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