Colorado governor considering clemency application for truck driver sentenced to 110 years in prison
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."
Because of Colorado's mandatory minimum sentencing laws that apply to cases where a person is killed, Aguilera-Mederos was sentenced to 110 years in prison, with Judge Bruce Jones saying, "I will state that if I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
The backlash from the public was swift, with more than 4.5 million people signing a petition calling this an unjust punishment and demanding Polis do something about it. When asked about the matter on Tuesday, Polis said, "We just received the application yesterday evening from his attorney and my legal team is reviewing it right now. When we have a decision, we will announce it." Prosecutors have also filed a motion for the court to hold a hearing to reconsider the sentence, submitting a request on Tuesday for the matter to be expedited.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
'King's horses take free rein through London'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is pop music now too reliant on gossip?
Talking Point Taylor Swift's new album has prompted a flurry of speculation over who she is referring to in her songs
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Nuclear near-misses
The Explainer From technical glitches to fateful split-second decisions, the world has come to the brink of nuclear war more times than you might think
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Speed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Anders Breivik to testify in prison isolation lawsuit against Norway
Speed Read Far-right fanatic who killed 77 people in 2011 claims he has received 'inhuman treatment' in custody
By The Week UK Published