DELAWARE COUNTY, OHIO — The Columbus semi-truck driver charged with killing a family of three in a fiery construction zone pileup on Interstate 71 is now accused of more than three decades of identity fraud, with investigators alleging he fraudulently obtained his commercial driver’s license under a false identity — raising serious questions about how he was ever legally behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle.
The Crash
On April 11, 2026, Modou Ngom, 50, of Columbus, failed to stop for backed-up traffic in a construction zone on northbound I-71 near the U.S. Route 36 and State Route 37 interchange in Delaware County. His semi-truck slammed into several stopped vehicles from behind, triggering a nine-vehicle chain reaction. ODOT traffic camera footage obtained through a public records request shows the white semi crashing into slowly moving vehicles in the right lane, with at least one vehicle bursting into flames instantly on impact. The semi then drove into the median, pushing at least two vehicles with it.
Luke Soposki, 37, Lynnea Soposki, 36, and their 1-year-old child — all from Ashley, Ohio — were killed. All three were traveling together in a Chevrolet Silverado. Three other people were hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Ngom was arrested at the scene. He has since been indicted on three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and four counts of vehicular assault, all felonies. He has pleaded not guilty. He remains held in the Delaware County Jail.
30 Years of Alleged Identity Fraud
During the crash investigation, Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Ohio State Highway Patrol investigators discovered conflicting information about Ngom’s identity in state and federal records. What followed was the uncovering of what authorities describe as more than 30 years of alleged identity fraud.
According to the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Ngom appears to have entered the United States in the 1990s and soon began using multiple names and dates of birth to obtain state and federal identification. Evidence indicates he fraudulently obtained a new Ohio driver’s license around 2003 under an alternate identity. In 2007, he fraudulently obtained a commercial driver’s license under the same alternate identity. In the mid-2010s, he was naturalized as a U.S. citizen — also under that alternate identity. State records show he changed his name back to Modou Ngom in 2015.
Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson said he immediately directed state investigators to turn all findings over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio and the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office were also notified.
The identity fraud investigation raises a critical question that authorities have not yet answered publicly — whether Ngom would have ever been eligible for a CDL under his real identity, and whether the fraud allowed him to obtain credentials he otherwise could not have received.
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