The suspect in last month's deadly minivan crash in Napa County has a record of drug arrests and has been deported from the US multiple times, ICE says, making this case more likely to become a politically charged one.

The crash happened the night of Sunday, September 7. A Toyota Sienna minivan was traveling southbound on Pope Valley Road in unincorporated Napa County, 12 miles north of St. Helena, when it crashed into a tree on the side of the road. The minivan had eight men in it, including the driver, 53-year-old Norberto Celerino of Stockton. Six of the passengers were killed and one was critically injured.

Celerino, who did not have a valid driver's license, survived, and we learned a few days later that he had three previous DUI convictions. He was also, allegedly, carrying three different driver's licenses, and authorities say that he also went by several names, including Beto Celerino Villalva, Grabien Martinez, and Roberto Savaringo-Diabla.

Celerino has now been charged with six counts of murder and six counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, as well as driving under the influence.

As KTVU reports, ICE has identified him as 49-year-old Beto Cerillo-Bialva, and in a statement the agency calls him "a criminal alien from Mexico who first entered the United States in 1995."  They add that since he first came to the country, "he has been arrested several times for possession of cocaine, multiple DUIs, and removed multiple times from the United States."

The agency says further that "due to Cerillo['s] continued disregard for the laws within the United States and California’s sanctuary laws has led to this tragic incident."

The story has been picked up by Fox News, naturally, which refers to Cerillo-Bialva as "previously deported blue state driver."

The governor's office has shot back, turning the blame back in the direction of the Trump administration.

"It's clear that this is an attempt to distract from the truth," says Diana Crofts-Pelayo, deputy director of communications for Governor Newsom, in a statement. "This individual re-entered the country several times under the federal government's watch. Trump and Miller have little interest in public safety or protecting farmworkers."

Once this case goes to trial, it seems likely to incite more political grandstanding, much as in the tragic 2015 San Francisco shooting of Kate Steinle, on Pier 14. In that case, an undocumented man who had previously been deported, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, was deemed responsible but was ultimately cleared of a murder charge because the shooting appeared accidental, but Donald Trump mentioned the shooting multple times on the campaign trail as he railed against sanctuary cities.

Cerillo-Bialva reportedly had DUI convictions in San Joaquin County in 2020 and 2024, as well as a third from more than 10 years ago.

The six men killed in the crash, who all lived in and around Stockton, have been identified as Pedro Lopez Gomez, 57, Fernando Silverio, 34, Demetrio Celerino Francisco, 39, Beymar Reynosa Rodriguez, 32, Aaron Ruiz, 39, and Loreto Ricardo Hernandez, 42.

Previously: Alleged Drunk Driver In Deadly Napa Crash Had 3 Previous DUI Convictions