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A Canadian truck driver has been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in connection with a 2020 crash on the New York State Thruway that claimed the lives of three family members.
On Tuesday (February 3), Ulster County officials announced that a jury convicted 67-year-old Luc Leblanc on three counts of criminally negligent homicide following a trial in Ulster County Court. The jury deliberated for just 45 minutes before reaching their verdict, according to the Daily Freeman.
The fatal crash occurred on August 2, 2020, when Leblanc was driving a 44,000-pound tractor-trailer southbound on I-87 in the town of Ulster. Evidence presented at trial showed that Leblanc failed to slow down as traffic ahead stopped, causing his truck to slam into the rear of a Honda Accord carrying members of a Guyanese family returning to the Bronx after attending a family event in Schenectady.
Three backseat passengers in the Honda were killed: 47-year-old Zulika Salim, 14-year-old Chelsea Gayapersad, and 10-year-old Justin Gayapersad. Two front-seat passengers survived with non-life-threatening injuries.
Dashboard camera footage presented during the trial showed Leblanc's truck swerving between lanes moments before the crash. Kingston Wire reported that Leblanc testified in his own defense, admitting he took his focus off the road to tune his radio.
"This was a clearly preventable tragedy; it only required the driver, like anyone else driving any vehicle, to focus on the road and the safety of everyone," Ulster County District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji said in a statement. "The loss of these three young lives, on the heels of an event affirming their family, is shattering."
The jury acquitted Leblanc of the more serious charges of manslaughter and a misdemeanor charge of using a portable electronic device while driving.
State police spent three years investigating the crash before seeking Leblanc's extradition from Canada. He was arrested by Canadian authorities in August 2023 but fought extradition for nearly two years before being returned to Ulster County in June 2025. He has been held in the Ulster County jail since his return.
Leblanc is scheduled for sentencing on April 10 and faces a maximum sentence of 1⅓ to 4 years in prison. Under New York's criminally negligent homicide statute, he could also receive less than one year in county jail or five years of probation.