A Canadian man who killed three members of a family when he slammed into the back of their vehicle while driving a tractor-trailer on the Thruway in the Town of Ulster has been convicted of criminally negligent homicide following a jury trial in Ulster County Court. Luc Leblanc, 67, faces a maximum of four years in state prison for the August 2020 incident that took the lives of 47-year-old Zulika Salim, 14-year-old Chelsea Gayapersad and 10-year-old Justin Gayapersad.

On Aug. 2, 2020, Leblanc was driving a 44,000-pound tractor-trailer on the Thruway when he failed to reduce his speed as traffic in front of him slowed down. As a result, the truck slammed into the rear of the family’s Honda Accord. All three of those killed were in the rear passenger seat. Two passengers in the front of the vehicle survived with non-life-threatening injuries. LeBlanc was not injured in the crash. Prosecutors said all of the occupants of the Honda were members of a family from Guyana and were returning to the Bronx after attending a family event in Schenectady.

State police spent three years investigating the crash before gathering enough evidence to seek Leblanc’s extradition from Canada. Leblanc was arrested by Canadian authorities in August 2023. He fought extradition for nearly two years before being returned to Ulster County in June 2025. He has been held in the Ulster County jail since his return.

In a jury trial before visiting Sullivan County Court Judge James Farrell, prosecutors presented evidence including dashboard camera footage that showed Leblanc’s truck swerving between lanes and over the fog line immediately prior to the crash. Leblanc, who testified in his own defense, admitted that he took his focus off the road to tune his radio. In a statement announcing the verdict, Ulster County District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji said that there was no evidence, and under New York law no requirement to show, that Leblanc was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.

“This was a clearly preventable tragedy; it only required the driver, like anyone else driving any vehicle, to focus on the road and the safety of everyone,” said Nneji. The loss of these three young lives, on the heels of an event affirming their family, is shattering. The only way we can stop such tragedies is by caring, thinking, and anticipating the unexpected when we try or start to do something that takes our focus away from the road. We should all learn from the regrets of the many who have shed tears and apologies for similar incidents.”

Leblanc is scheduled for sentencing on April 10. He faces a maximum sentence of one-and-a-half to four years in state prison. Under New York’s criminally negligent homicide statute, he could also be sentenced to less than one year in the county jail or five years of probation. The case was prosecuted by Ulster County Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Paul Derohannesian and Senior ADA Karin Intermill. Leblanc was defended by attorney Dave Gervais of Plattsburgh.