Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) commuted the prison term of a truck driver sentenced to 110 years following a deadly accident, which cut the sentence to 10 years.
“The man, Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, killed four people on April 25, 2019, after, he said, his brakes failed on the downhill grade on Interstate 70 eastbound outside Denver,” NBC News reported Thursday.
Prosecutors argued he acted recklessly and made several bad decisions prior to the crash.
Video footage from April 2019 showed the scene:
Polis lowered the man’s sentence by 100 years, stating in a recent letter the life sentence was inappropriate for a “tragic but unintentional act.”
“While you are not blameless, your sentence is disproportionate compared with many other inmates in our criminal justice system who committed intentional, premeditated, or violent crimes,” he wrote in the letter to Aguilera-Mederos:
You have wondered why your life was spared when other lives were taken. You will struggle with this burden of this event for the rest of your life, but never forget that because of this event, countless others will struggle with the loss of their loved ones or injuries as well. And you will serve your just sentence.
The man was behind the wheel of a truck pulling a trailer with lumber and moving at approximately 85 mph in a location where the speed limit for commercial vehicles was 45 mph, authorities noted.
“A chain-reaction crash and a fire ensued involving 28 vehicles,” the NBC report said, adding, “Doyle Harrison, 61; William Bailey, 67; Stanley Politano, 69; and Miguel Lamas Arrellano, 24, died in the accident.”
Earlier this month, truckers protested against the 110-year sentence:
During the initial sentencing, Judge A. Bruce Jones explained the law required he sentence the truck driver to consecutive sentences.
“If I had the discretion, if I thought I had the discretion, I would not run those sentences consecutively,” Jones commented at the time.
Polis’ decision came when a state district attorney asked a judge recently to consider lowering Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence after public outcry that saw approximately five million sign an online petition seeking clemency for the man, Fox 13 reported.
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