A 29-year-old truck driver of Punjab origin has been sentenced to six years in prison in Canada after pleading guilty to dangerous driving that resulted in the deaths of a mother and her 11-year-old son and injured 10 others in a 2022 crash near Montreal.
Baljeet Singh was sentenced by a Quebec court following a joint recommendation from the prosecution and defence. The court has also imposed a 10-year driving prohibition.
Singh pleaded guilty in April to dangerous driving causing death in connection with the July 2022 collision on Highway 30 near the Saint-Hubert borough of Longueuil.
Evidence presented before the court showed that Singh was playing an online game on his cellphone while driving when the crash occurred.
The collision claimed the lives of 42-year-old Nancy Lefrançois and her 11-year-old son, Loic. Ten other people were injured in the crash.
Following the collision, Singh was taken to hospital for nervous shock but disappeared the next day. Investigators later found that he had travelled to Toronto before leaving for India and subsequently travelling to California.
Canadian authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Singh. He was arrested by US federal agents in California in 2025 and was later extradited to Canada to face the charges.
Under Canadian law, dangerous driving causing death carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. However, the Quebec court accepted the joint recommendation of a six-year prison sentence and a 10-year driving ban.
The case attracted significant attention in Quebec because of the deaths and the evidence presented in court that distracted driving contributed to the collision.