In 2019, 22-yr-old Cuban immigrant Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos was involved in a fiery crash when his brakes went out while driving his semi-truck in Colorado. The fiery Interstate 70 crash killed four people. He was convicted of 27 counts and sentenced to 110 years in prison on December 13, 2021.
When truck drivers heard about the sentence, they joined forces to boycott truck deliveries into and out of Colorado.
Over 5 million people signed the petition asking for “Commutation for time served” or “Clemency” for the now 23-yr-old truck driver.
The petition reads:
We all know of the crash that happened on I-70 in Denver, Colorado. Most of us have heard facts in the case. Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, 23 has nothing on his driving record, or on his criminal history. He had complied with every single request by the Jefferson County courts, and investigators on the case. Hes passed all of the drug and alcohol tests that were given including a chemical test. This accident was not intentional, nor was it a criminal act on the drivers part. No one but the trucking company he is/was employed by should be held accountable for this accident. No, we are not trying to make it seem any less of a tragic accident that it is because yes, lives were lost. We are trying to hold the person who needs to be held responsible, responsible. The trucking company has had several inspections since 2017, with several mechanical violations. There are many things Rogel could have done to avoid the courts, but he took responsibility showed up and severely apologized to the victims families. Some of the families even offered Forgiveness. Rogel is not a criminal, the company he was working for knew the federal laws that go into truck driving but they failed to follow those laws. Rogel has said several times that he wishes he had the courage to crash and take his own life that day, this tragic accident wasn’t done with Intent, it wasnt a criminal act, it was an accident. Since he has been sentenced, i have changed this to granting Rogel clemency or commutation-as time served.
A video on Twitter showed Cuban immigrant Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos explaining to the court how he was “working for a better future for my family.”
This afternoon, Daily Mail reported that Colorado Governor Jared Polis reduced the 110-year sentence of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to just ten years after widespread pressure from politicians, jurors, celebrities – including Kim Kardashian – and even the victims’ families
Colorado Governor Jared Polis has reduced the 110-year sentence of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to just ten years after widespread pressure from politicians, jurors, celebrities – including Kim Kardashian – and even the victims’ families.
Aguilera-Mederos’ harsh sentence on December 13 drew criticism among millions of people – including a juror who had found him guilty and Kardashian – who had been vocal that the sentence is unjust.
Relatives of the victims supported at least some prison time at his sentencing hearing, but in the statement last week, King said she and her team had spoken to the surviving victims of the crash and the families of those who died about the possibility of Aguilera-Mederos being resentenced before she issued her request.
The juror called the sentence ‘100-fold of what it should have been’ and said that while the trucker was responsible for the crash, Judge A. Bruce Jones should have given him a ‘more suitable sentence.’
Kim Kardashian, who is currently studying law, went to bat for the truck driver, fighting publicly for clemency for him. After news broke about Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ decision to reduce Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’s sentence from 100 years to only ten years, the reality tv show celebrity thanked him with a tweet:
Kardashian also tweeted a copy of the Executive Order by Governor Jared Polis granting a commutation of Rogel’s sentence to only ten years and making him eligible for parole in 5 years.
Many on social media complained that he should have been released. Others compared his case to Ethan Couch, who killed four while driving drunk and was recently released from a Fort Worth, TX prison after serving a 720-day sentence.
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