Millions have come out in support of 26-year-old truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos for his role in a 2019 vehicle crash near Denver.
More than 4.5 million people have signed an online petition at change.org to get Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence reduced after he caused the accident that killed four people. He was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and other charges and sentenced to 110 years in prison.
Aguilera-Mederos was driving a semi-truck carrying lumber on Interstate 70 when he said his brakes failed, causing his truck to hit several cars. The crash victims were Stanley Politano, 69; William Bailey, 67; Doyle Harrison, 61; and Miguel Lamas Arrellano, 24.
“It’s hard to live with this trauma,” Aguilera-Mederos told the judge during sentencing. “I can’t sleep. I’m thinking all the time about the victims. This was a terrible accident, I know. I take the responsibility. But I’m not a criminal.”
Currently, Aguilera-Mederos’ petition has received the third-highest number of signatures for 2021. The first spot is for Julius Jones (6.5 million signatures), an Oklahoma man who had spent 19 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Then, there’s the petition for Elijah McClain (5.6 million signatures), a man Aurora Police killed in 2019 whose family is seeking $15 million in a civil rights lawsuit.
Truckers across the country are threatening not to drive to Colorado if Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence is not reduced. They are using the hashtags #NoTrucksColorado and #DontDriveColorado to show solidarity.
