Supporters of Colorado Truck Driver Urge Clemency for 110-Year Sentence
Published Date: 12/23/2021
Source: Bloomberg Quicktake: Now
The family of a trucker sentenced to 110 years in prison after an explosive brake-failure accident that left four people dead staged a rally in Denver Wednesday to plead for clemency. Supporters of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos say the sentence is deeply unjust and truck drivers around the country have taken up his cause, using hashtags like #NoTrucksToColorado and #NoTrucksColorado. The Colorado judge has said mandatory-minimum sentencing laws forced him to impose the long prison term after Aguilera-Mederos was convicted of vehicular homicide and other charges. His family said in a statement they do not want to minimize the loss of those killed in the crash, but are calling on Gov. Jared Polis to "take immediate action" to reduce the sentence for the 26-year-old man with no criminal record. He was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and fully cooperated with investigators, supporters said in a statement. More than 4.5 million people have signed an online petition asking for a commutation. Polis, a Democrat, said Tuesday he is reviewing a clemency application. Prosecutors asked for a reconsideration of the sentence after the outcry, but also say the driver declined plea deal negotiations and the convictions recognize harm caused to crash victims. On Tuesday, District Attorney Alexis King filed a motion asking the judge to consider the issue quickly. Aguilera-Mederos' defense attorney, James Colgan, said Wednesday the district attorney, who inherited the case from her predecessor, could have dropped some of the charges against him if she wanted a different sentence to be reached, given the state's laws. He said he is open to having either the governor or the judge decide a new, fair sentence. He declined to say what that might be. Aguilera-Mederos testified that he was hauling lumber when the brakes on his semitrailer failed as he was descending a steep grade of Interstate 70 in the Rocky Mountain foothills in spring 2019. His truck plowed into vehicles that had slowed because of another wreck outside Denver, setting off a chain-reaction wreck and a fireball that consumed vehicles and melted parts of the highway. He wept as he apologized to the victims' families at his Dec. 13 sentencing. Prosecutors argued he should have used a runaway ramp designed for such situations. Aguilera-Mederos, for his part, said he was struggling to avoid traffic and trying to shift to slow down. The crash killed 24-year-old Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 67-year-old William Bailey, 61-year-old Doyle Harrison and 69-year-old Stanley Politano. Relatives of victims supported at least some prison time at his sentencing hearing. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained: https://bit.ly/3iERrup Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake