The president and co-owner of Madera, Calif.-based Nijjar Brothers Trucking were sentenced for false statements and aiding and abetting in connection with routine falsification of driver logbooks. President Surinder Nijjar will receive 12 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release, while co-owner Amritpal Singh was sentenced to 12 months probation.
An investigation by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General followed an accident in which a Nijjar Brothers driver caused a four-vehicle collision that killed a man and his 13-year-old son and seriously injured his 17-year-old son. Five other people were injured. The Nijjar Brothers driver had been driving for at least 19 hours; he subsequently was convicted and sentenced for falsifying logbook entries and served time in jail.
As part of the sentencing agreement, the two owners also are required to inactivate their DOT numbers, dissolve the companies, not have any ownership or interest in a trucking company during the periods of their probations, and each pay a fine of $50,000 to the U.S. Treasury on behalf of their companies.
