A Florida big-rig driver — a reported illegal immigrant who triggered a multi-car pileup on an Ohio highway that killed a local father and his 11-year-old son — got a shockingly lenient 20-day jail sentence.
Lima Municipal Court Judge Tammie K. Hursh handed down the slap on the wrist to 53-year-old Yvio Michel, ordering him to serve two consecutive 10-day stretches behind bars.
The brief stint in the Allen County jail comes despite the Boynton Beach trucker pleading no contest to charges stemming from the February 28 wreck on I-75 that took the lives of 52-year-old Hurshel Gipson and his young son, Michael.
Michel, a Haitian national who was living in the U.S. illegally while attempting to seek asylum, was barreling northbound near Cridersville around 8:30 p.m. when traffic began grinding to a halt due to a vehicle fire.
Instead of slowing his massive tractor-trailer, the reckless trucker failed to yield and plowed headlong into a line of stopped commuters. The devastating chain-reaction crash smashed four passenger cars and another semi, completely trapping the Gipson family’s Buick SUV between two heavy rigs.
The impact killed Hurshel and his boy Michael on the spot. The boy’s mother, 45-year-old Amanda Gipson, who was behind the wheel, survived with severe injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Multiple other motorists suffered injuries in the destruction.
Despite facing a slate of charges, prosecutors offered Michel a plea deal. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts, negligent homicide and vehicular manslaughter, while authorities dropped three other charges, including a second homicide count and failure to maintain distance.
Judge Hursh suspended the vast majority of Michel’s jail time, handing him a 90-day sentence for the homicide charge (with 80 days suspended) and a 180-day term for manslaughter (with 170 days suspended). Along with his 20 days of jail time, Michel was hit with a two-year license suspension, six points, and a paltry $1,000 in fines plus court costs.
ARE YOU KIDDING??!?! An Ohio judge gave just 20 days after an illegal immigrant trucker k*lled a dad and his 11-year-old on I-75!!
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Hurshel Gipson, 52, and his son Michael, 11, d*ed Feb. 28 when a semi hit stopped traffic near mile marker 118 in Allen County. Amanda Gipson, 45,… pic.twitter.com/GRZEjpG4Ft— Blue Lives Matter (@bluelivesmtr) September 7, 2026
Michel’s stay in local custody is set to end Sept. 21. However, federal authorities are waiting in the wings: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has slapped a detainer on Michel and plans to take him into federal custody the second he walks out of jail.
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