The Massachusetts truck driver charged with vehicular homicide in the death of State Police Tpr. Michael Pahira Jr. was in the country illegally but held a valid commercial driver’s license under federal guidelines, according to a Boston Herald report.
Federal and Massachusetts authorities have provided a conflicting timeline regarding the immigration status and commercial licensing of the driver, Michael Bon, 33, of Brockton, Massachusetts.
Bon is charged with felony counts of vehicular homicide and vehicular aggravated assault as well as two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and one count of involuntary manslaughter. He’s being held at Schuylkill County Prison on $700,000 bail.
On Wednesday, Bon was behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle traveling southbound on Interstate 81 near Mile Marker 119 in Schuylkill County at about 7 a.m. Police say at the same time, Pahira – a 20-year veteran of the State Police, a member of its Motor Vehicle Enforcement team, and a 2001 graduate of North Schuylkill High School – was conducting a roadside inspection on another commercial vehicle.
Bon’s vehicle left the roadway and struck the side-view mirror of Pahira’s vehicle, according to the latest information available from State Police. His vehicle then collided with the tractor-trailer Pahira was inspecting, pushing it further off the road. Bon’s vehicle then struck Pahira, pinning the Trooper as both vehicles caught fire.
Nearby construction workers rushed to the scene and were able to pull Pahira from the burning wreckage. Pahira was then taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-East in Pottsville where he later succumbed to his injuries.
The Herald outlined the following timeline based on records it obtained from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV):
July 2, 2024: U.S. Customs and Border Protection admitted Bon into the United States from Haiti at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as a parolee.
October 2024: Bon applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The application was never granted.
March 2025: Bon applied for and received a Non-Domiciled Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) from Massachusetts.
June 13, 2025: USCIS terminated Bon’s parole. According to DHS, Bon remained in the country illegally after this date.
February 2026: Bon applied to renew his Massachusetts CDL and was approved.
On Feb. 13, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published the Non-Domiciled CDL 2026 Final Rule that made changes to the eligibility and issuance requirements for non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs drivers. The Final Rule went into effect on March 16, according to information on the RMV website for non-domiciled CDLs.
A Massachusetts RMV spokesperson, in comments to The Herald, defended the issuance and renewal of Bon’s commercial license, saying he was ruled eligible based on the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database at the time of both applications. The recently enacted FMCSA Final Rule would have barred Bon from future renewals.
NOTE: Schuylkill County officials were not immediately available for comment.
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