Culture

Trucker Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ Sentence Reduced – What’s Next?

Lead Photo: DENVER, CO - DECEMBER 22: An emotional Oslaida Mederos, center right, speaks to members of the media during an impromptu press conference for members of the press after a rally on the west steps of the state capitol on December 22, 2021 in Denver, Colorado. Also in the photo are from left to right Yoel Varela, with TAS USA, wearing hat, Domingo Garcia, National president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), behind Mederos, Jeanette Vizguerra-Ramirez, to her right, and Leonard Martinez, Aguilera-Mederos' attorney, behind her. The rally was held for truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos. Community groups and advocates from across the state joined the family and legal team of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos at the Colorado State Capitol Building to call on Governor Jared Polis to take immediate action to reduce Mederos"u2019s sentence. Mederos was sentenced to 110 years in the accidental death of four people in a tragic I-70 traffic accident when his brakes failed. The sentencing judge in the case has publicly stated that he would likely not have imposed the sentence but was forced to follow Colorado mandatory sentencing laws, which require mandatory minimums for specified crimes and require sentences to be served consecutively not concurrently. More than 4 million people have signed a petition asking for Mederos"u2019s sentence to be commuted or reduced. Mederos has no criminal record, cooperated fully with investigators, and was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident. Organizers said that the rally was in no way an attempt to minimize the tragic loss of life three years ago, but rather to call attention to the critical need for sentencing reform. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
DENVER, CO - DECEMBER 22: An emotional Oslaida Mederos, center right, speaks to members of the media during an impromptu press conference for members of the press after a rally on the west steps of the state capitol on December 22, 2021 in Denver, Colorado. Also in the photo are from left to right Yoel Varela, with TAS USA, wearing hat, Domingo Garcia, National president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), behind Mederos, Jeanette Vizguerra-Ramirez, to her right, and Leonard Martinez, Aguilera-Mederos' attorney, behind her. The rally was held for truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos. Community groups and advocates from across the state joined the family and legal team of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos at the Colorado State Capitol Building to call on Governor Jared Polis to take immediate action to reduce Mederos"u2019s sentence. Mederos was sentenced to 110 years in the accidental death of four people in a tragic I-70 traffic accident when his brakes failed. The sentencing judge in the case has publicly stated that he would likely not have imposed the sentence but was forced to follow Colorado mandatory sentencing laws, which require mandatory minimums for specified crimes and require sentences to be served consecutively not concurrently. More than 4 million people have signed a petition asking for Mederos"u2019s sentence to be commuted or reduced. Mederos has no criminal record, cooperated fully with investigators, and was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident. Organizers said that the rally was in no way an attempt to minimize the tragic loss of life three years ago, but rather to call attention to the critical need for sentencing reform. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Read more

Late last week, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis commuted the 110-year sentence of truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, who was convicted this past October on four counts of vehicular homicide. His sentence was reduced to 10 years.

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos of Cuban descent, was driving a semi-tractor-trailer in April 2019 at 85 mph when he said his brakes failed. The accident caused a 28-car pileup and took the lives of four people. The 110-year sentence was enforced last month by Judge Bruce Jones, who stated it was the mandatory minimum sentence under Colorado law. He noted that the lengthy sentence would not have been his choice if given an option.

Polis called the original sentence “highly atypical and unjust.” In Aguilera-Mederos’ clemency letter, Polis wrote, “The length of your 110-year sentence is simply not commensurate with your actions, nor with penalties handed down to others for similar crimes.”

When Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ original sentence was announced, there was an outcry from the public who believed sending someone to prison for the rest of his life for an accident was not fair. More than five million people signed an online petition urging Polis to commute Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence. Fellow truck drivers, too, stood in solidarity with him and threatened not to drive to Colorado if his sentence was not reduced. They used the hashtags #NoTrucksColorado and #DontDriveColorado on social media.

A district court judge had scheduled a January 13 hearing to reconsider Aguilera-Mederos’ original sentence, but that hearing will no longer occur now that Polis has stepped in. District attorneys hoped Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence would be reduced to 20-30 years. Now, Aguilera-Mederos will be eligible for parole in five years – on December 30, 2026.

colorado news Petition