Dec. 13, 2021, 9:22 PM EST / Updated Dec. 14, 2021, 12:20 PM EST
By Phil Helsel
The driver of a semi who crashed into stopped traffic on a Colorado interstate two years ago, killing four people and injuring others, was sentenced to 110 years in prison Monday.
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, now 26, has said his brakes failed on the downhill grade on I-70 eastbound before he crashed into cars that were stopped because of another accident on April 25, 2019. A fire erupted that engulfed vehicles.
Judge A. Bruce Jones said his hands were tied by a law passed by state lawmakers that required him to sentence truck driver Aguilera-Mederos to consecutive sentences, meaning they are served back-to-back.
“If I had the discretion, if I thought I had the discretion, I would not run those sentences consecutively,” Jones said.
Four Coloradans — Doyle Harrison, 61; William Bailey, 67; Stanley Politano, 69; and Miguel Lamas Arrellano, 24 — died in the crash.
Prosecutors argued that Aguilera-Mederos acted recklessly and made a series of poor decisions before the deadly wreck, including failing to use a runaway truck ramp on the side of the highway, NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver reported during the trial.
Aguilera-Mederos addressed the judge and said that he did not mean to hurt anyone.
“It’s hard to live with this trauma. I can’t sleep, I’m thinking all the time about the victims,” he said. “... This was a terrible accident, I know. I take the responsibility. But it wasn’t intentional.”
Kathleen Harrison, whose husband, Doyle Harrison, died in the crash, called her late husband 26 years “my confidant” and they had looked forward to retirement together.
“Sometimes it feels like being half a person when you lose your spouse. We were a team,” she said.
She said that she believes that Aguilera-Mederos did not mean to kill anyone that day, but that a combination of decisions led to it, from reckless driving and, crucially, failing to take the runaway ramp and driving into traffic that was stopped.
A jury in October found Aguilera-Mederos guilty of 27 counts, including four counts of vehicular homicide, six counts of assault in the first degree and 10 counts of attempt to commit assault in the first degree, some of which were subject to the sentencing rules.
The chain-reaction crash and fire involved 28 vehicles. The truck with a trailer carrying lumber was traveling an estimated 85 mph in an area where the speed limit for commercial vehicles is 45 mph, officials have said.
‘Miscarriage of justice’: outcry after Colorado trucker given 110 years for fatal accident
'Our goal is to bring local and national awareness so that we CAN find someone who will support Rogel in creating change in this sentencing,' protest organizers told CBS 4. 'Let's join together and RISE UP in support for Rogel! Let Governor Polis Know the TIME doesn't fit the 'Crime'. If we do not stand up for him, who will?'
Meantime, relatives of the victims dispute the narrative circulating the internet and claim that Aguilera-Mederos is not a victim, as many of his supporters allege.
'This person should spend some time in prison and think about his actions,' Gage Evans, the 65-year-old wife of William Bailey who died in the crash, told the New York Times Sunday. 'I don't think he should be let off with a slap on the wrist.'
'We are truly the victims,' she said, noting that she believes Aguilera-Mederos made 'bad decisions all along the way that day.'
A spokesperson for Polis said the governor's office will 'welcome an application' for clemency from the defense 'and will expedite consideration but have not received one yet at this time.'
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Truckers and citizens alike are demanding clemency for Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26 (pictured at his Dec. 13 sentencing) - the driver of an 18-wheeler sentenced to 110 years in prison for causing a huge crash that killed four on a Colorado interstate
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Relatives of the victims are disputing the narrative circulating the internet and claim that Aguilera-Mederos is not a victim, as many of his supporters allege (Pictured: The fiery fatal crash on I-70 in Jefferson County on April 35, 2019)
Aguilera-Mederos was driving a semi on April 25, 2019 down Interstate 70 in Lakewood, Colorado, when he crashed into two dozen vehicles - including four other semi-trucks stuck in rush-hour traffic. The impact caused a fireball explosion that incinerated cars and trucks, and killed four people.
More than two years later, on Dec. 13, Aguilera-Mederos, of Texas, was sentenced to 110 consecutive years in prison by county court Judge A. Bruce Jones, who said his hands were tied due to mandatory minimum laws in the state.
The judge sentenced Aguilera-Mederos to the minimum in the range available to him on all 27 criminal counts, the Denver Channel reported.
During his trial, the ex-trucker testified the brakes on his semi failed before he plowed into the other vehicles. However, prosecutors argued he could have taken steps to prevent the crash, such as choosing to use one of several runaway ramps as his 18-wheeler barreled down the Denver-area mountains.
In wake of his sentencing, social media has erupted with calls for clemency.
'Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, 23, has nothing on his driving record, or on his criminal history,' the Change.org petition for Aguilera-Mederos' clemency, which was addressed to Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Jefferson County courts, reads.
'He had complied with every single request by the Jefferson County courts, and investigators on the case.'
Much more in article. . .
Clemency petition for Colorado truck driver reaches 4.4M signatures
Some of the items that made the sentence sooooooooo long:
jcgriff2 said:
I wish him the best.
John
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