Trucking News · Minnesota · October 28, 2026

Truck Driver Pleads Guilty in 2023 Work Zone Crash on I-35 Near Faribault, Minnesota, That Killed Two People

By Big Rig Daily Staff

A truck driver has pleaded guilty in a 2023 crash in a highway work zone in Minnesota that killed two people. The 57-year-old man, who KROC News reported is from Tennessee, pleaded guilty Monday, Oct. 26, to two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation, according to KARE 11. Sentencing is scheduled for March 17, 2027. Because he has pleaded guilty, this is a conviction, not just a charge.

The crash

The crash happened Aug. 25, 2023, on Interstate 35 just south of Faribault. Prosecutors said the truck driver passed orange Department of Transportation signs warning of slow-moving traffic and struck two vehicles, KARE 11 reported. Two people from Urbandale, Iowa, died. Big Rig Daily is not naming the driver or the victims.

What the criminal complaint says

The charges were filed in April 2024. The details below come from the criminal complaint, as reported by KARE 11 and KROC News, and were not decided at a trial.

• Investigators used dash camera video from inside the truck to determine the driver was "watching a Netflix show as he approached stopped or slow-moving traffic as he approached a construction zone."
• Crash scene investigators determined the truck was traveling 68 mph at the time of impact. KROC reported that a reconstruction found the cruise control set between 67 and 68 mph and no evidence of an attempt to brake before the collision.
• The driver told police his phone was downloading an episode to watch later, and he denied using it while driving, KARE 11 reported.
• Prosecutors said he "was distracted to the extent that he failed to apply the brakes."

The driver pleaded not guilty and asked for a jury trial less than a year before the plea, KARE 11 reported.

What federal rules say about phones

Under 49 CFR 392.82, no driver may use a hand-held mobile telephone while driving a commercial motor vehicle, and no motor carrier may allow or require it. The rule defines driving to include being temporarily stopped in traffic or at a traffic control device. It makes an exception for contacting law enforcement or emergency services, according to the eCFR.

Quick facts

• Plea: Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, to two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation.
• Crash: Aug. 25, 2023, I-35 south of Faribault, Minnesota.
• Sentencing: March 17, 2027.

Big Rig Daily has also covered another court record case from a Pennsylvania interstate crash and a California case in which CHP said a trucker was watching Netflix on a dash tablet. For the rules where you haul, see truck laws by state, trucking laws and the Minnesota truck stop and weigh station map.

A question for readers

What practices help you keep your attention on the road when traffic slows ahead of a work zone?

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