At left, flames engulf vehicles involved in a deadly crash in Lakewood, Colorado, on April 25, 2019. At right, Rogel Aguilera is seen in a mug shot released by authorities April 26, 2019.
COLORADO – Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday commuted the prison term of a truck driver who was sentenced to 110 years following a fatal 2019 accident, reducing the sentence to 10 years.
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, killed four people on April 25, 2019, after he said his brakes failed the downhill grade on I-70 eastbound outside of Denver. Prosecutors argued that Aguilera-Mederos acted recklessly and made a series of poor decisions before the deadly wreck.
FILE - Workers clear debris from the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 on April 26, 2019, in Lakewood, Colo., following a deadly pileup involving a semi-truck hauling lumber. A truck driver who was convicted of causing the fiery pileup that killed four people and injured six others on Interstate 70 west of Denver was sentenced Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, to 110 years in prison. Rogel Aguilera-Mederos was convicted in October of vehicular homicide and other charges stemming from the April 2019 crash. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Polis reduced Aguilera-Mederos’ sentencing by 100 years, saying in a letter on Thursday that the life sentence was inappropriate for a “tragic but unintentional act.”
