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."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.