Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni, the driver who on June 28 fell asleep at the wheel of a loaded 2020 Freightliner Cascadia and crashed into already-stopped traffic, killing five, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by deportation back to his native Cuba.
The driver pled guilty Thursday, to five counts of manslaughter and four counts of aggravated assault.
Gonzalez-Companioni's fleet, Hope Trans LLC, bore all the marks of an hours of service-cheating chameleon carrier.
“Young man, you took my daughter away, her name was Nicole Monique LaJeunesse Gregory, and I pray that the Lord has mercy on your soul,” the mother of one of the victims told Gonzalez-Companioni in court in Kaufman County, Texas, on Thursday, according to local media.
Gonzalez-Companioni's crash took place in broad daylight on I-20 in Terrell, Texas. "The weather was clear, and the roadway was dry," according to a National Transportation Safety Board investigation.
Before the crash, Hope Trans' most recent MCS-150 filing with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration showed 5 owned trucks, 188 leased trucks, 5 owned trailers, and 195 drivers.
An NTSB diagram of how the accident played out.
After the crash, investigators found ownership frequently changing hands and a dismal safety record, including for hours.
FMCSA's Washington division found the fleet's place of business "was a virtual office service without the legal or functional relationship to Hope required by the FMCSA to be considered as a PPOB," NTSB wrote in a report on the motor carrier following the crash.
Investigators called the principal contact listed on Hope Trans' MCS-150, only to find that person, referred to as "SM," said they'd sold the company. SM provided contact details for someone called "SG," who denied any role in operating the company, but did own another fleet, according to NTSB's report.
"'SG' stated Hope’s daily operations were managed by JETRUCK LOGISTICS, located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan," NTSB wrote.
Then investigators looked into Hope Trans' safety record.
The CSA Safety Measurement System profile for the fleet obtained by NTSB June 30, 2025, "showed that the carrier was alert in the Hours-of-Service Compliance (79%), Vehicle Maintenance (91%), and Driver Fitness (88%)," NTSB wrote.
A look sy Gonzalez-Companioni's logs also produced some shocking statistics.
The ELD recovered in his truck, from Ontime Logs Inc., was on the list of FMCSA-certified devices at the time. It was later revoked, in November 2025, but FMCSA's ELD registry shows the company has gone on to certify another ELD.
"NTSB investigators contacted Ontime Logs Inc. and obtained copies of the driver’s logs," NTSB wrote. "Based on those logs, the driver had been on duty for approximately 47.81 hours."
Gonzalez-Companioni sustained non-incapacitating injuries and was transported to a local hospital along with four others, two of which had to be flown to a nearby hospital. Gonzalez-Companioni appears to have formerly led a socialist students group in Cuba before moving to Miami in 2020, a Cuban news website reported in 2020.
Since the crash, FMCSA has gotten a new administrator, Derek Barrs, who pledged to end "everything to do with" self certification, or the process of allowing ELD providers to list their own devices without a third party making sure the devices can't be tampered with.
Overdrive has reported extensively on allegations of big fleets cheating on ELDs, and heard from drivers that the problem is widespread.
“I'm left with the haunting thought that it didn't have to be that way,” the mother of the victim told Gonzalez-Companioni in court, according to local media. “If only you had rested, and that's the law you should have rested, it could have changed everything.”
