DA asks for hearing to reconsider truck driver’s controversial 110 year sentence after public uproar
The legal team representing truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos scored a significant victory in their fight to reduce the driver’s lengthy prison sentence.
On Tuesday, First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King filed a motion asking for an expedited hearing to reconsider the 110 year prison sentence handed down to 26 year old truck driver Aguilera-Mederos on December 13, 2021.
King initially filed a request for a sentencing hearing on Friday.
“As Colorado law required the imposition of the sentence in this case, the law also permits the Court to reconsider its sentence in an exceptional case involving unusual and extenuating circumstances,” the motion states.
A date for the hearing will be set on Monday, according KDVR.
Additionally, Colorado Governor Jared Polis has confirmed that the has received a clemency application from the legal team representing Aguilera-Mederos. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) has a meeting scheduled for Wednesday with Polis to advocate on behalf of Aguilera-Mederos.
The moves toward reducing the 110 year sentence for Aguilera-Mederos come after more than a week of public outcry against the sentence.
A Change.org petition asking for clemency or commutation of the sentence has now reached 4.6 million signatures.
The plight of Aguilera-Mederos has even drawn the attention of celebrity Kim Kardashian West, who issued multiple Tweets on his behalf on Tuesday afternoon.
I know everyone has been posting about Rogel Aguilera-Mederos this week. I took a deep dive in it to figure out what the situation is. pic.twitter.com/617xtcGOMK
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 21, 2021
I pray that Governor Polis, who has been a leader on supporting reforms that increase human dignity in the legal system, will commute his sentence.
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 21, 2021
Prosecutors in the case have also come under fire for boasting about exchanging a brake shoe from Aguilera-Mederos’ truck as a memento after the sentencing.
Aguilera-Mederos was convicted on 27 charges, including four counts of vehicular homicide, for a fatal chain reaction crash that happened in slowed traffic on I-70 near Lakewood, Colorado, on April 25, 2019.
Aguilera-Mederos lost control of his brakes and bypassed a runaway ramp before crashing into slowed traffic. The pileup involved 24 passenger vehicles and four semi trucks. Four people died and six others were hurt.
District Court Judge Bruce Jones told Aguilera-Mederos that he had no choice but to issue the 110 year prison term due to mandatory minimum sentencing standards in Colorado, but also said that “if I had the discretion it would not be my sentence.”
King said that her office attempted to enter into plea negotiations with the Aguilera-Mederos legal team, but that he refused to consider anything more than a traffic ticket.
In an emotional statement issued in court just moments before the 110 year sentence was handed down, Aguilera-Mederos said that he is not a killer and never intended to hurt anyone. He expressed remorse for the victims and said that he is experiencing a large amount of psychological distress as a result of the fatal crash.
“It’s hard to live with this trauma. I can’t sleep, I’m thinking all the time about the victims,” Aguilera-Mederos told the court. “… This was a terrible accident, I know. I take the responsibility. But I’m not a criminal.”