The 110-year prison sentence against Cuban truck driver Rogel Lázaro Aguilera-Mederos was considered unfair by millions of people.
Photo: Lakewood Police Department / Courtesy
The Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, granted this Thursday a measure of grace for the young Cuban truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos by reducing his sentence from 110 to 10 years in prison after the accident in which four people were killed.
In 2019, four people lost their lives and several more were injured when Aguilera-Mederos, 23 years old at the time, crashed the wooden cargo truck he was driving against several cars stopped on Interstate 70, west of Denver.
The defense alleged that the brakes failed on the truck the young man was driving, who did not use the emergency ramp that could have prevented the tragedy.
State law requires that the sentence for some of the charges Aguilera-Mederos faced, including assault and attempted assault, be a minimum of 10 years and, furthermore, establishes that the sentences be served consecutively rather than simultaneously. so that the young Cuban was sentenced to 110 years a few weeks ago.
The magnitude of the sentence generated an intense debate in the United States; Millions of people and celebrities like Kim Kardashian demanded a measure of grace from Governor Polis, who finally granted it this Thursday.
“I think you deserve clemency for a number of reasons. You were sentenced to 110 years in prison, actually more than a life sentence, for a tragic but unintentional act “, is read in the letter from Polis to Aguilera-Mederos in which he grants him the measure of grace. Aguilera-Mederos will also become eligible for future parole.
“Although you are not without guilt, your sentence is disproportionate compared to many other prisoners in our criminal justice system who commit violent, willful, premeditated crimes,” he added.
“The magnitude of the 110-year sentence is simply not commensurate with your actions or the punishment given to others for similar cases,” he said.
How the accident happened?
As confirmed by investigators in the case, the truck’s brakes began to overheat on a steep descent and Aguilera Mederos continued on her way despite seeing smoke coming from them.
When the truck’s brakes failed completely, Aguilera did not use the emergency ramp that could have stopped the vehicle, and incidentally avoided the tragedy, but instead crashed the truck into several vehicles that were stopped on the Interstate due to a previous accident. In the area.
The impact was so hard that it ended the life of Miguel Ángel Lamas Arellano, 24; William Baily, 67; Doyle Harrison, 61, and Stanley Politano, 69.
According to the statement of Aguilera Mederos, the young man “thought he was going to die so he closed his eyes before colliding with parked traffic.”
Prosecutors in the case argued that Aguilera-Mederos had had several opportunities to avoid the tragedy and that it was his bad decisions that had caused the incident.
This is why the jury found the young man guilty of six counts of first degree assault with “extreme indifference”; ten counts of attempted first degree assault with “extreme indifference”; two counts of vehicular assault; a reckless driving charge; and four counts of reckless driving causing death.
Duane Bailey, the brother of one of the victims, told the local newspaper The Denver Post: “He made the deliberate and intentional decision that his life was more important than everyone else on the road that day.”
“I am not a criminal”
During the trial, the young truck driver cried and apologized to the victims’ families.
“I am not a criminal,” he said. “I am not a murderer. When I see the charges against me, we are talking about a murderer and that is not me. I have never thought of hurting someone in my life. “
He added that his life after the incident has been “difficult” and that he continually thinks about the people who died.
“I lost my brakes. Truckers know this is a difficult time, there is nothing you can do. You can’t do anything, ”said Aguilera Mederos during the reading of the sentence.
Kim Kardashian’s complaint
The sentence against Aguilera-Mederos aroused the solidarity of millions of people and even led the prosecution to request a review of it.
“As Colorado law required the imposition of the sentence in this case, the law also allows the Court to reconsider its sentence in an exceptional case that involves unusual and extenuating circumstances,” said the prosecutor.
A plea for clemency for the young man on the platform Change.org received millions of signatures.
Reality star Kim Kardashian also posted a message of solidarity with Aguilera-Mederos on her networks, joining her voice to that of numerous jurists and activists who have condemned the so-called mandatory minimum sentences, which allowed the sentence of 110 years for the Cuban.
“Mandatory minimums eliminate judicial discretion and must be eliminated,” he wrote. “The laws of Colorado really have to be changed.”
Kardashian recalled how the judge in the case himself recognized that he would not have wanted to sentence the young man to such a long sentence, but that state laws did not allow him to reduce it at his discretion.
Also read:
· Mother of the Hispanic sentenced to 110 years in prison talks about the trailer brake of some prosecutors for her son
· Prosecutor asked to reduce the sentence of the Hispanic Rogel Aguilera-Mederos from 110 to between 20 and 30 years
Hispanic trucker who caused crash in Colorado where four people died was sentenced to 110 years in jail
eldiariony.com
Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.