Modou Ngom sentenced to 22 and a half years in US
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Le Soleil, Kassataya, Ouestaf.com and Senego
Modou Ngom has been sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison in Ohio over the road accident that killed three members of a family on 11 April 2026. Le Soleil, republished by Kassataya, confirms the sentence and dismisses rumours of a death sentence, while Ouestaf.com, citing Wosu, reports the judge’s remarks, the five injured people and the possibility of an appeal.
Judge Marianne Hemmeter of the Delaware County Court handed down the sentence in line with the prosecutor’s submissions, reports Ouestaf.com, citing US media outlet Wosu. Ohio prosecutors had requested that the sentences be served consecutively. Modou Ngom could appeal with a new legal team, his lawyer Jeffery Poth told Ouestaf.com.
The accident occurred as traffic slowed in a roadworks zone on Interstate 71. The lorry had been unable to stop and hit several vehicles. The collision killed a couple and their one-year-old child and injured five people, according to Ouestaf.com. The judge said Modou Ngom could have avoided the accident by braking and looking ahead, describing the motorway as a “war zone”.
Before sentencing, Modou Ngom said he was praying for the victims and described what happened as a “terrible accident”. Jesse Mallen, the brother of Lynnea Soposki, one of the victims, spoke in court of his family’s “unbearable” pain, reports Wosu, according to Ouestaf.com. In Senegal, a petition calling for clemency had collected nearly 150,000 signatures by 29 October.
The jury found that he had driven “recklessly”, a designation that indicates marked carelessness and deliberate indifference to risks without implying an intention to kill. Ohio law provides for up to five years for each of the three aggravated homicides and up to 18 months for each of the five offences related to the injuries. Consecutive sentences may be ordered to protect the public or punish the convicted person, provided they are not disproportionate, Ouestaf.com says. Jeffery Poth had confirmed the conviction to Le Soleil, republished by Kassataya, ruling out any possibility of the death penalty.
