Colorado driver killed 4 people in an accident: why millions of Americans ask him not to be punished

More than 4,3 million people have signed a petition calling on Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to pardon or commute the 110-year prison sentence handed down to a truck driver who killed four people in a 2019 crash. INSIDER.

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Truck driver Aguilera Mederos, 26, said his brakes were broken in a 2019 crash that killed four people.

A jury found him guilty on 27 counts, and the judge said state law requires a harsh sentence.

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, a 26-year-old truck driver from Texas, was sentenced to 13 years in prison on December 110 by a Colorado court after being convicted of 27 counts in April 2019 in an April XNUMX car accident in Lakewood.

A 2019 video of the crash shows that the vehicles caught fire after colliding with an Aguilera-Mederos semi-trailer.

Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 24; William Bailey, 67 Doyle Harrison, 61 and 69-year-old Stanley Politano were killed in the accident and many others were injured, including five children on a school bus who were hospitalized.

Aguilera Mederos was heading east on I-70, transporting lumber in his semi-trailer, when he collided with vehicles that had been stopped due to a previous accident, police said.

During the crash, 23-year-old Aguilera Mederos said his brakes had failed, leading to the incident.

“This accident was not intentional and did not constitute a criminal act on the part of the driver. No one other than the trucking company he worked for should be held responsible for this accident,” the statement reads. Change.org petitionswhich was first created three years ago by Colorado resident Heather Gilby.

She said she changed her petition to focus on a pardon after he was sentenced on December 13.
The petition calls for pardon or mitigation of the sentence before the sentence has already been served.

At the time of his sentencing, Colorado Judge A. Bruce Jones stated that, according to numerous reports, he would not have applied sentences consistently if he had a choice.

He said state law requires sentences to be served in succession, one after the other, leading to a 110-year sentence.

The Denver Post also called on Polis this week to commute his sentence.

“We do not intend to undermine the jury's verdict—Aguilera-Mederos did kill four people and seriously injure others in a tragic accident that could have been prevented,” the editorial said.

“But we do think there is an important circumstance that the law, as it is written, did not allow the jury or the judge to apply in the driver's defense. The 26-year-old was not drunk. He didn't intentionally steer the car, he wasn't in a hurry. He wasn't even furious when his semi-trailer accelerated out of control on Interstate 70," the editorial added.

On the subject: Hundreds of life sentences: why the US gives prison sentences that cannot be served

In a statement to the Denver Canal, Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King said she supports the Aguilera-Mederos indictment.

“This tragedy was devastating for the victims, their families and our entire community,” King said.

“The actions and decisions of Aguilera-Mederos resulted in the death of four people, serious injuries to the survivors and, as we heard, as they stated during the sentencing hearing, serious consequences for their families and loved ones. We started pleading negotiations, but Aguilera-Mederos refused to consider anything other than traffic fines, ”she said.

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A spokesman for the officials said: "We are aware of this issue, the governor and his team will consider each request for clemency on an individual basis."

The petition is the fastest-growing petition Change.org has seen this year, KSN reported.

As Change.org reported on December 15, more than 45 people signed the petition in one hour.

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