Colorado Governor Cuts Truck Driver’s Prison Sentence To 10 Years

Colorado Gov. Jared Police on Thursday shortened the prison sentence of a truck driver to only 10 years. Apparently, the trucker got convicted in a deadly crash that had previously earned him 110 years in prison.

This outraged many people hence the reduction of the sentence.

The decision on Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence happened among several year-end commutations and pardons issued by Police.

The move comes days after a judge scheduled a hearing to reconsider the sentence at the request of the district attorney. He initially planned to cut the sentence to probably 20 or 30 years.

About 5 million people signed an online petition seeking clemency for Aguilera-Mederos. He was convicted of vehicular homicide and other charges in an explosive pileup that killed four people in 2019.

He testified that he hauled lumber when the brakes on his semitrailer failed as he descended a steep grade of Interstate 70 in the Rocky Mountain foothills.

His truck then plowed into vehicles that had slowed down because of another wreck, setting off a chain reaction of crashes.

On top of that, a fire started, consuming vehicles and melting parts of the highway.

Finding that this happened to be the mandatory minimum sentence, Judge Bruce Jones imposed the 110-year sentence on December 13.

According to Police, despite Rogel not being blameless, the 110-year sentence looked disproportionate to him. He compared this with the inmates who committed intentional, premeditated, or violent crimes.

The governor said the case would hopefully spur a discussion about the sentencing laws. However, he noted that any future changes would not help Aguilera-Mederos.

‘’There is an urgency to remedy this unjust sentence and restore confidence in the uniformity and fairness of our criminal justice system. And consequently, I have chosen to commute your sentence now,’’ Police wrote.

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