An online petition asking for the sentence to be lowered has been signed by more than four million people only days after a Colorado court sentenced a truck driver to 110 years in prison for his involvement in a 2019 incident that killed four people.
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos was driving a truck on Interstate 70 in Denver on April 25, 2019, when it collided with three vehicles, killing four people. He was convicted guilty of 27 charges in October, including vehicular murder and vehicular assault.
Petition to grant clemency attracts 4 million signatures
On the 13th of December, a district court judge, A. Mr. Aguilera-Mederos, now 26, was sentenced to more than a century in prison by Colorado state judge Bruce Jones, citing a Colorado state rule that required terms for each offense to be served consecutively rather than concurrently. The long sentence received quick criticism, even from the judge, who told Reuters, "If I had the discretion, it would not be my sentencing."
The Denver Post encouraged Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to commute the harsh sentence and urged state legislators to modify the statute that required it in a December 15 editorial.
According to Aguilera-Mederos, the major reason for the incident was faulty brakes. The firm he was driving for, Castellano 03 Trucking LLC in Houston, did not immediately respond to messages left at phone lines related to the company, according to local news sources.
Prosecutors have claimed that Aguilera-Mederos was to blame for the fatalities because of multiple mistakes he made behind the wheel, including not guiding the lumber-hauling truck into a runaway truck ramp on the highway.
"Sending an employee to a lifetime-and-a-half in jail as a result of a catastrophe coming from equipment failure isn't going to do anyone any favors," Jalopnik, a prominent automobile website, stated the day after The Denver Post editorial ran.
Family members don't believe Aguilera-Menderos was a victim
According to a petition on Change.org, what transpired was a "tragic accident," and Polis should either offer Aguilera-Mederos mercy or a commutation. It had gathered over 4.2 million signatures by Sunday. Polis' spokesman, Conor Cahill, said that "we welcome an application from the defense and would expedite processing, but that "we have not yet received one."
Colgan stated that he intends to seek a reduction of his sentence, rather than a pardon, which absolves or forgives the offense. A commutation would not affect the jury's decision to convict Aguilera-Mederos, but it would affect how much time he would serve in prison if any.
Aguilera-Mederos' sentence should not be modified, according to Gage Evans, the wife of William Bailey, who was killed in the tragedy. Instead, she believes state lawmakers should reconsider the statute that requires him to serve each of his sentences in order.
She and other victims' family members disagree with the "public narrative" that Aguilera-Mederos was a victim. A spokesperson for the Colorado First Judicial District Attorney's Office, Michael W. Teague, said the driver's conduct that day had "severe consequences," as per The NY Times.
Teague said in a statement that the 110-year sentence, in this case, is "within the purview of the court and reflects the legislature's judgment." If an appeal is filed, "we will again pursue an appropriate outcome if that opportunity arises, after consulting with the victims and survivors and receiving their input," he said.
Following Aguilera-Mederos' sentencing, the Truck Safety Coalition, which works with relatives of truck accident victims, issued a strong statement addressed at trucking corporations.
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