A truck driver who was sentenced 110 years in prison for a fatal crash that happened on I-70 highway near Denver, Colorado sentencing has been reduced to 10 years.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis granted clemency to 26-year old Rogel Aguilera-Mederos and shared this information to the driver in a letter.
“I am writing to inform you that I am granting your application for a commutation,” Polis wrote. “After learning about the highly atypical and unjust sentence in your case, I am commuting your sentence to 10 years and granting you parole eligibility on December 30, 2026.”
The justice system’s change of heart comes after a huge outcry from advocates, including some truck drivers who started a boycott — refusing to make any delivers in Colorado. There was also a petition that accumulated over 5 million signatures.
Also among those advocating for a lesser sentence were the family members of some of those killed in the accident.
“I think we all can agree that [110 years] is excessive,” Duane Bailey, the brother of William Bailey who died in the crash, told “GMA,” but added that the jury “came to the correct decision to convict [Mederos].”
Mederos was convicted for a 2019 crash that killed four people. Mederos testified that his brakes failed, but he was driving 85 mph when the speed limit was 45 mph and he drove past a runaway truck ramp before plowing into stopped traffic, police said.
A Jefferson County jury found Mederos guilty of 27 counts — the most serious was first-degree assault, a class-three felony. He was the sentenced to 110 years in prison on Dec. 13.
“The length of your 110-year sentence is simply not commensurate with your actions, nor with penalties handed down to others for similar crimes,” Polis said in his letter. “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.”
Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King has filed a motion earlier this month asking for a sentence of 20 to 30 years instead. A hearing to reconsider the sentence had been scheduled for Jan. 13, 2022 but the governor’s new motion may cancel that appointment.
