A Colorado truck driver who was sentenced to 110 years in prison for a 2019 crash that killed four people and injured several others is finding support from the public. At the time of writing, more than 4.5 million people have signed a petition to Governor Jared Polis to grant clemency to 23-year-old Roger Aguilera-Mederos or a commutation for time served, and those numbers are going up every minute.
- It was a horrific tragedy but an accidental one. Heather Gilbee, who created the Change.org petition, pointed out that by advocating for Aguilera-Mederos, she’s in no way belittling the fact that people died. “We are not trying to make it seem any less of a tragic accident that it is because yes, lives were lost,” she said.
- The prosecution has always placed the blame firmly on Aguilera-Mederos. In April 2019, the truck he was driving lost its breaks. That in and of itself is unfortunate and no fault of Aguilera-Mederos. However, the prosecution heavily relied on the fact that Aguilera-Mederos passed one of the state’s runway truck ramps as he came down from the mountains.
- The crash was catastrophic. After losing control of his truck, he crashed into multiple cars stopped on I-70 in Lakewood and a massive fire broke out. The highway had to be shut down for 24 hours and 24-year-old Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 67-year-old William Bailey, 61-year-old Doyle Harrison, and 69-year-old Stanley Politano lost their lives.
- Aguilera-Mederos was convicted of 27 counts, one of the most serious being vehicular homicide. Before he was handed his 110-year sentence, Aguilera-Mederos insisted that he did everything in his power to avoid hitting the cars on the road but was unable to do so. “My life is not a happy life. It is a very sad life because four people died,” he told CBS Denver, adding that he wished he’d died instead of the four victims.
- Governor Polis’s office says they’re open to hearing any credible arguments on Aguilera-Mederos’s behalf. However, it’s unclear whether the petition itself will make much difference. “We welcome an application” from the defense “and will expedite consideration,” a spokesperson for the office said.
