Trucker Rogel Aguilera-Mederos: Sentence Reduced From 110 To 10 Years After Public Outcry
Colorado Governor Jared Polis has commuted the sentence of truck motive force Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to ten years with eligibility for parole in 5. The 26-12 months-vintage turned into at the start given a hundred and ten 12 months sentence for a 2019 crash that killed 4 human beings, however, had his sentence decreased after public outcry over Colorado's obligatory sentencing legal guidelines.
Polis introduced the information Thursday alongside different commutations, fifteen character pardons, and a govt order granting 1,351 pardons for the ones convicted of owning oz or much less of marijuana. In Aguilera-Menderos' commutation letter, Polis stated he granted the commutation due to the fact the sentencing turned into disproportionate for a "tragic however accidental act."
"The period of your a hundred and ten-12 months sentence is without a doubt now no longer commensurate together along with your actions, nor with consequences passed right all the way down to others for comparable crimes," Polis stated withinside the letter. "There is an urgency to treatment this unjust sentence and repair self-belief withinside the uniformity and equity of our crook justice machine, and therefore I actually have selected to go back and forth your sentence now."
Aguilera-Mederos stated the crash passed off after his brakes malfunctioned even as he turned into using on Colorado's Interstate 70. But prosecutors argued that the trucker overlooked a runaway truck ramp that would have averted the crash. Dozens have been injured, and 4 — Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 24; Doyle Harrison, 61; Stanley Politano, 69; and William Bailey, 67 — have been killed, main to Aguilera-Mederos' 27 charges.
Local police stated no alcohol or capsules have been worried withinside the crash, in keeping with CBS Denver.
During sentencing, Aguilera-Mederos stated that he regretted the crash and that he wanted he had died rather than the alternative sufferers.
"My existence isn't a satisfying existence," Aguilera-Mederos informed CBS Denver. "It is a totally unhappy existence due to the fact 4 human beings died."
Because of minimal sentencing legal guidelines in Colorado, Aguilera-Mederos turned into sentenced to a hundred and ten years in jail for the charges, which covered vehicular homicide. But his sentencing obtained countrywide interest, with over 3 million human beings signing a petition soliciting for him to acquire clemency.
"We accept as true with justice has eventually come to mild for Rogel," Aguilera-Mederos' legal professional James Colgan stated on Thursday. "Unfortunately, you know, there are human beings, there are sufferers in this situation and we experience for the one's human beings and their households. But because it pertains to Rogel and the justice machine that, that he is needed to deal with, we experience thankfully."
Polis stated that he was hoping Aguilera-Mederos' case could deliver extra interest to obligatory minimal and sentencing legal guidelines and advocated the person to seek "restorative justice opportunities" for the households and the network he impacted. He additionally referred to that a member of the family of Aguilera-Mederos works withinside the governor's office, however, stated he wasn't worried and had no information of the trucker's commutation.
"You have questioned why your existence turned into spared whilst different lives have been taken," Polis wrote to Aguilera-Mederos on Thursday. "You will conflict with this burden of this occasion for the relaxation of your existence, however in no way neglect about that due to this occasion, limitless others will conflict with the lack of their cherished ones or accidents as well. And you'll serve your simple sentence."
Kim Kardashian West, who had recommended for his sentence to be commuted, celebrated the information of Aguilera-Mederos' commutation on Twitter.
"This case turned into a clean instance of why obligatory minimums do not paintings and want to be abolished. I'm thankful to Governor Polis for his empathy and management on this situation," Kardashian West tweeted. "While his new sentence is ten years, he's going to now have a possibility to return back domestic in 5 years and be together along with his son and wife."
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