Colorado Trucker’s 110-Year Prison Sentence Cut To 10 Years
A truck driver who tragically killed four people in a 2019 Colorado highway accident now faces just 10 years in prison instead of life behind bars.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis commuted the prison term of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos on Thursday (Dec. 30), reducing his 110-year sentence by 100 years, NBC News reports.
Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was found guilty on 27 counts for vehicular manslaughter after the brakes on his semi-truck failed, causing him to crash into stopped traffic on Interstate 70 west of Denver.
Judge Bruce Jones sentenced the trucker on Dec. 13 to a 110-year sentence based on Colorado’s mandatory minimum sentencing law, which ignited a public backlash because of the severity of the sentence. Following the public outrage, Jones agreed to schedule a hearing for Jan. 13 to reconsider his sentence.
"While you are not blameless, your sentence is disproportionate compared with many other inmates in our criminal justice system who committed intentional, premeditated, or violent crimes," Polis said in a letter to Aguilera-Mederos.
District Attorney Alexis King sought a prison term of 20 to 30 years, according to the AP. She argued during the trial that Aguilera-Mederos should have used a runaway ramp designed for trucks descending steep grades of Interstate 70 in the Rocky Mountain foothills. He was traveling an estimated 85 mph where the speed limit was 45 mph for commercial vehicles.
"This was a tragic event that affected many Coloradans," Polis wrote. "Though your actions have caused immense pain, I am encouraged by your personal reflection and the commercial vehicle safety changes that were made in the wake of this tragedy to ensure this type of event never happens again."
RELATED: Colorado Judge To Consider Lowering Trucker’s 110-Year Sentence After 6 Million People Sign Petition
By Dec. 31, more than 5 million people signed an online Change.org petition seeking clemency for Aguilera-Mederos. Kim Kardashian West also weighed in on the case through a series of tweets, urging the governor to get involved. “Colorado law really has to be changed and this is so unfair. @GovofCO is a really good person and I know he will do the right thing,” she tweeted.
