Prosecutor Asks Court To Rethink 110-Year Sentence For Colorado Truck Driver

A prosecutor is asking a Colorado judge to rethink the 110-year sentence recently handed to a truck driver who killed four people and injured others in a deadly crash triggering criticism from the trucking community, multiple sources reported.

First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King filed a motion Tuesday for the court to set a date to review Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos’ 110-year sentence, Fox News reported.

“As Colorado law required the imposition of the sentence in this case, the law also permits the Court to reconsider its sentence in an exceptional case involving unusual and extenuating circumstances,” the motion states, according to Fox News. ‘This would allow for the conditions to be met for a modification of the defendant’s sentence as was discussed by the People in the initial sentence hearing.”

“The purpose for the People’s expedited request is so that the named victims in the case, as well as their families, have an opportunity to be heard by the trial court who is fully aware of the facts of the case,” the motion reads, Fox News reported. “We have spoken to the living victims and the families of the deceased victims, and it is their specific desire to be heard on this modification, in this forum, as quickly as possible.”

Aguilera-Mederos, a 26-year-old Cuban immigrant, was sentenced to 110 years in prison on Dec. 13 for the April 2019 crash on Interstate 70 outside of Denver, according to Fox News. Investigators said that the driver lost control of a semi-truck after its brakes failed.

“If I had the discretion, if I thought I had the discretion, I would not run those sentences consecutively,” Judge A. Bruce Jones said during the sentencing, adding that he was bound by state law to issue the sentence, according to NBC News.

Jones acknowledged that Aguilera-Mederos did not intend to hurt anyone, “but he made a series of terrible decisions, of reckless decisions,” and he deserved prison time, NBC News reported.

Aguilera-Mederos was driving 85 mph before he crashed into dozens of stopped cars and triggered an explosion, according to Fox News. Prosecutors said that he could have used an emergency ramp to stop the truck.

Aguilera-Mederos tried to pull over on the shoulder of the road but found that the area was occupied by other semi-trucks, according to an affidavit, Fox News reported.

The crash killed four people and destroyed 28 vehicles, Fox News reported. Aguilera-Mederos was convicted on vehicular homicide and 23 other charges.

“I am not a criminal,” the driver said in court, according to Fox News. “I am not a murder. I am not a killer. When I look at my charges, we are talking about a murderer, which is not me. I have never thought about hurting anybody in my entire life.”

The sentencing triggered online criticism, including a petition posted on Change.org requesting commutation gathering over 4.5 million signatures, Fox News reported.