Colorado governor considering clemency application for truck driver sentenced to 110 years in prison

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D).
(Image credit: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) told reporters on Tuesday his office has received a clemency application for Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, a truck driver who was sentenced last week to 110 years in prison for causing a deadly crash on Interstate 70.

In April 2019, the brakes on Aguilera-Mederos' truck failed, and he slammed into stopped traffic, killing four people. A 26-year-old immigrant from Cuba, Aguilera-Mederos was convicted in October of 27 counts in connection with the accident, including reckless driving and attempt to commit assault in the first degree — extreme indifference. Before he was sentenced, Aguilera-Mederos said he accepted responsibility for the "heartbreaking" accident, and he "never thought about hurting anyone in my entire life."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.