Moreno Demands Investigation, Denaturalization After Illegal Immigrant Trucker Kills 3 in Ohio

WASHINGTON - Today, Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) sent a letter to Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin calling for an investigation into an illegal immigrant who killed a family of three in Ohio after obtaining a commercial driver's license (CDL) under a false identity. Senator Moreno also called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to initiate the immediate denaturalization of Ngom if it is determined he fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship.

"These needless tragedies are avoidable with staunch enforcement of our immigration laws," wrote Senator Moreno. "Fortunately, President Trump has taken historic steps to remove illegal aliens from our nation. We must choose the safety of American families over those who spit in the face of our laws and customs. When that responsibility is neglected, the consequences are measured in American lives. If we cannot protect our own citizens from fraudsters, then our immigration and licensing regimes are not just broken they are complicit."

Read the full text of the letter HERE or below.

April 28, 2026

The Honorable Sean Duffy
Secretary
The Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

The Honorable Markwayne Mullin
Secretary
The Department of Homeland Security
2702 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20528-0525

Dear Secretaries Duffy and Mullin,

Thank you for your leadership at the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation, and for your continued commitment to protecting the American people. I write today to bring your attention to an inexcusable failure of our immigration and commercial licensing systems, which led to the tragic death of an Ohio family.

In early April, Modou Ngom triggered a deadly chain-reaction crash on I-71 in Delaware County, Ohio, killing a family of three and injuring several others. Ngom, who was driving a 2006 tractor-trailer, is an illegal immigrant who entered the country unlawfully, falsified his identity, lied to immigration officials to achieve naturalization, fraudulently obtained a Commercial Driver's License ("CDL"), and established a trucking company on false pretenses. Simply put, he is a criminal and should never have been in the U.S. in the first place.

According to the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Ngom first came to the United States in the 1990s and thereafter used several different names and birth dates to obtain both state and federal IDs. Investigators say that around 2003, Ngom illegally obtained a new Ohio driver's license under a different identity, followed by a CDL in 2007 under the false identity, and was ultimately naturalized as a U.S. citizen in the mid-2010s using the same fake identity. State records then show that he changed his name from his alias, Lamine Gaye, back to Modou Ngom.

This case is not an isolated administrative failure-it is a systemic breakdown with fatal consequences. An innocent family, including a one-year-old child, lost their lives because an illegal alien was able to evade enforcement and operate a commercial vehicle. This same individual had prior safety violations under Ohio Revised Code § 4513.02, including operating an unsafe vehicle just last year. When the federal government turns a blind eye and fails to police its own borders, it is innocent American families on Ohio roads who pay the ultimate price. It is no surprise to me that this man was not apprehended under the Biden Administration. Nonetheless, lessons must be learned from this preventable tragedy.

I applaud the swift work of our municipal justice system, which, on April 16th, indicted this heinous criminal on counts of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. However, accountability must extend beyond the sole prosecution of Ngom. The Department of Justice should bring all appropriate federal charges against Ngom, including, potentially, immigration fraud, false statements, and identity-document crimes. I also encourage the Department of State-if it is determined that Ngom procured U.S. citizenship through fraud or willful misrepresentation-to initiate denaturalization consistent with federal law.

We also need to fake a hard look at driver standards in our national freight and trucking industry. Every time we allow a cursory identity check to substitute for a complete vetting process, we roll the dice with American lives. It is outrageous that honest truckers follow the rules while criminal aliens game the system and operate 80,000-pound vehicles that are capable of mass harm on our highways.

These needless tragedies are avoidable with staunch enforcement of our immigration laws. Fortunately, President Trump has taken historic steps to remove illegal aliens from our nation. We must choose the safety of American families over those who spit in the face of our laws and customs. When that responsibility is neglected, the consequences are measured in American lives. If we cannot protect our own citizens from fraudsters, then our immigration and licensing regimes are not just broken they are complicit.

This situation is alarming for many reasons, and I urge your departments to investigate this case. I also respectfully request that you provide m y office with an update on this matter and answers to the following questions within thirty days:

• When, through what port of entry, and under what justification did Ngom enter the United States?
• What aliases did Ngom use in the process of obtaining state and federal identification?
• Did Ngom use fraudulent immigration documents in the process of obtaining state and federal identification?
• What documentation did Ngom provide USCIS during the naturalization process? How was a fraudulent identity capable of moving undetected through the USCIS naturalization process?
• To your department's knowledge, did Ngom ever receive any federal benefits?
• In obtaining a CDL, what documentation did Ngom provide? How was a fraudulent identity capable of obtaining a CDL?
• Did Ngom himself or his self-owned trucking company commit any other crimes not reported thus far?
• What steps will your departments take to fix the processes that Ngom exploited?

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter and for everything you do to keep America safe.

Sincerely,

BERNIE MORENO
United States Senator

CC:

The Honorable Marco Rubio
Secretary
The Department of State
2201 C St. NW
Washington, DC 20451

The Honorable Todd Blanche
Attorney General
The Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530