DA asks court to reconsider 110-year sentence for truck driver in deadly crash that killed four

A Colorado district attorney is asking a court to reconsider the 110-year sentence of a 26-year-old truck driver whose brake failure caused a fiery crash that killed four people, citing the ‘desire’ of the living victims and families of the deceased.  

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was driving a semi-truck on April 25, 2019, along Interstate 70 in Lakewood, Colorado, when he slammed into two dozen vehicles – including four other transporters stuck in rush-hour traffic. 

The impact caused a fireball explosion that incinerated cars and trucks, killing four people.

On October 15, a jury found him guilty on 27 criminal charges. He was sentenced on December 13 to 110 years – the minimum allowed by Colorado’s sentencing laws – by Judge A. Bruce Jones.  

District Attorney Alexis King filed a motion Tuesday for a court to set a hearing to review Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence, just days after it was handed down.

‘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,’ her motion states. 

‘This would allow for the conditions to be met for a modification of the defendant’s sentence as was discussed by the People in the initial sentencing hearing.’

A spokesperson for the DA’s office said this action ‘essentially reopens the case.’   

Aguilera-Mederos’ harsh sentence drew criticism among millions of people – including a juror who had found him guilty and Kim Kardashian – who say the sentence is unjust.   

‘The purpose for the People’s expedited request is so that the named victims in the case, as well as their families, have an opportunity to be heard by the trial court who is fully aware of the facts of the case,’ the motion continues. 

‘We have spoken to the living victims and the families of the deceased victims, and it is their specific desire to be heard on this modification, in this forum, as quickly as possible.’ 

On Tuesday, Kardashian – who is studying law and has been very vocal about prison reform, using her platform to help free more than a dozen federal prisoners – posted on Instagram to her 271 million followers that she had heard about the case and ‘took a deep dive in it to figure out what the situation is.’ 

She continued: ‘He was not drunk or under the influence; his brakes on the tractor-trailer failed.

‘Another shocking and unfair part of this case is that the judge didn’t want to sentence him to such a lengthy sentence.

‘However, because of the mandatory minimums in Colorado, his hands were tied.

‘Mandatory minimums take away judicial discretion and need to end.’

Kardashian also condemned the gleeful celebrations of the prosecutors, saying their gift of a brake shoe trophy made her ‘sick’. 

She added that the governor, Jared Polis, ‘is a really good person and I know he will do the right thing.’ 

In October, a jury found Aguilera-Mederos guilty of 27 criminal charges, including:

• Four counts of vehicular homicide
• Two counts of vehicular assault
• Six counts of assault in the first-degree with extreme indifference
• 10 counts of criminal attempt to commit assault in the first degree
• One count of reckless driving
• Four counts of careless driving causing death

He was also found not guilty of 15 counts of criminal attempts to commit assaults in the first degree. 

On December 14, Polis’ office said that they had received a request for clemency.

Polis said the application is being reviewed.

‘We just received Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ application and our legal team is currently reviewing it. Once we reach a decision, we will make an announcement,’ a spokesperson for Polis said.

Kardashian also condemned the state prosecutor Kayla Wildeman, 27, for boasting about the harsh conviction and showing off a brake shoe turned into a trophy, commemorating their ‘success.’ The Facebook post has since been deleted.

Wildemn had posted a picture of the trophy and praised her fellow deputy DA. 

‘Get yourself a trial partner as great as Trevor Moritzky. He turned a brake shoe from a semi-truck into a memento. What a special gift from truly a special person.’ 

King, the DA and Wildeman’s boss, said the post ‘was in very poor taste and does not reflect the values of my administration.’

She added: ‘We have addressed it internally.’

A spokesman for King did not specify how the issue was addressed. King added that the brake shoe was not a piece of evidence in the case.

This week, Kardashian commented: ‘Another shocking part of the case is this post by the prosecutor after his conviction.

‘Four people died in this tragic accident.

‘Rogel has a life sentence for the accident which will not only destroy his life, but it will also impact his wife and son’s life.

‘And yet, for some reason, the prosecutor thought it would be funny to post a photo of a brake shoe trophy she received from a colleague with a plaque?

‘Makes me so sick.’ 

Kardashian concluded: ‘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.’

Kardashian has carved out a name for herself as one of the nation’s most influential campaigners for reform of the legal system, thanks to her celebrity, but also despite it.

She is studying law, and those whose advice she seeks praise her attention to detail and commitment.   

Kardashian’s support for Aguilera-Mederos – a green card holder, who immigrated from Cuba and lives in Texas with his wife and son – adds to the already significant well of support.  

A juror who helped convict him said his 110-jail sentence is ‘not right.’ 

‘I cried my eyes out,’ the juror, who remained anonymous, told FOX31.

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.’  

Jones has said his hands are tied due to mandatory minimum laws.

‘There is just something wrong to where a judge cannot intervene in some way and say the way this is written is not right,’ the juror added.

The juror also told FOX31 he feels for the families of the victims, but feels compelled to speak in favor of reducing Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence.  

‘I don’t [think] the governor should sit there and offer him clemency and let him off,’ he said. 

‘But to step in and say this would be a more suitable sentence for what had happened.’ 

More than 4.6 million Change.org petitioners are calling for the trucker’s sentence to be lessened.

‘Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos … has nothing on his driving record, or on his criminal history,’ says a petition, addressed to Polis and Jefferson County courts.

The governor is the only person who can grant clemency at the state level. 

Polis most recently commuted four sentences and issued 18 pardons in December 2020. Clemency usually results in a sentence reduction or a pardon. 

The petition goes on to say that Aguilera-Mederos could have ‘done things differently to avoid the courts,’ but ultimately commended him for taking responsibility and apologizing to the victim’s families. 

It has become the website’s third most signed petition, according to the Change.org page.     

During his sentencing on December 13, Aguilera-Mederos burst into tears.  

‘I am not a criminal,’ he said. 

‘I am not a murderer. I am not a killer. 

‘When I look at my charges, we are talking about a murderer, which is not me. 

‘I have never thought about hurting anybody in my entire life.’ 

Aguilera-Mederos claimed the brakes in his truck failed and he lost control, but prosecutors argued in court that he could have taken steps to prevent the crash, including using a runaway truck ramp miles before the wreck. 

He made a ‘bunch of bad decisions’ instead, they said.  

The sentencing prompted a series of minor protests from truck drivers.   

TikTok videos showed truck drivers refusing to enter the state as a way to denounce the sentence they deemed harsh and unfair.

Although the videos have gained traction in recent days, the Colorado Motor Carriers Association said on Friday they were not aware of serious attempts of a boycott.  

Greg Fulton, president of the association told ABC News he hasn’t seen concerning evidence of a boycott.

‘I’m not seeing really anything that’s showing up of that boycott in terms of companies missing shipments or other things like that,’ Fulton told the outlet.

Fulton also said that while he feels for the driver, calling the crash a mechanical failure, as the petition states, is incorrect.

‘I think in our eyes is inexperience, a lack of familiarity with the driver of the mountains…I don’t think the company should have put them in this situation,’ he said. 

Aguilera-Mederos was working for a Houston-based trucking company at the time of the fatal crash. 

He was driving an 18-wheeler loaded with lumber.

Prosecutors said he was eastbound coming down the interstate from the mountains about 85mph. 

They said he swerved at times, forcing others off the road before he crashed into two dozen vehicles causing a giant fireball, FOX 31 reports.

It left behind a scene of ‘significant, just unbelievable carnage,’ Lakewood Police Spokesman Ty Countryman said during a news conference following the crash, noting that some bodies were still in the wreckage hours later. 

Video showed cars stopped in every direction as the huge fire spread, sending smoke billowing. 

‘This is looking to be one of the worst accidents we’ve had here in Lakewood,’ Countryman said.

Those killed in the crash were Doyle Harrison, 61, of Hudson, Colorado; William Bailey, 67, of Arvadal; Miguel Angel Lamas Arrellano, 24, of Denver; and Staney Politano, 69, of Arvada. 

Six others were taken to hospital.

His defense attorney claimed he did not know that his truck brakes were smoking or that he would not be able to stop. 

He also argued that Aguilera-Mederos’ actions were a series of negligent decisions, and that he did not intend to hurt anybody.  

Before his sentencing, Aguilera-Mederos pleaded with the judge to be lenient, breaking down in tears as he spoke.

‘It’s hard. This was a terrible accident, I know,’ he said. ‘I take the responsibility, but it was an accident.

‘I have never thought about hurting anyone in my entire life and Jesus Christ, he knows that, he knows my heart,’ he continued. 

‘I am not a criminal, I am not a murderer.’

‘The accident – it wasn’t intentional, it wasn’t intentional, Your Honor. I did all that I can as a man. I put myself in harm’s way to avoid harming anyone else.’

He claimed that he tried to avoid the traffic, and noted that he did not flee in the aftermath ‘because I respect the laws.

‘I want to say sorry, sorry for the loss, sorry for the people injured,’ he concluded, noting: ‘I ask … God many times why them and not me.’  

Source: DailyMail