Rogel Aguilera-Mederos | DA Seeks Reduced 110 Yrs Prison Term In Truck Fatal Crash
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos | DA Seeks Reduced 110 Yrs Prison Term In Truck Fatal Crash.
0
0
The district attorney will seek a sentence of 20 to 30 years instead. The judge had said his hands were tied under Colorado law.
The Colorado district attorney whose office prosecuted a truck driver who was sentenced to more than a century behind bars will ask for a new prison term of 20 to 30 years, she said Monday.
First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King told reporters that the case of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos was “exceptional” and requires “an exceptional process.” Aguilera-Mederos was convicted of multiple crimes after a crash that killed four people and injured two others in Lakewood, near Denver, in 2019.
“We have and will take the necessary steps for the court — who is the most informed about what happened in this case — to strike the appropriate balance when considering a new sentence,” she said.A resentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 13.
Aguilera-Mederos, 26, who has described the crash as a terrible accident, was sentenced to 110 years in prison on Dec. 13 because of state laws that require sentences for certain crimes be served back to back.
Monday’s announcement came after a petition seeking to have the sentence commuted garnered nearly 5 million signatures.
A lawyer for Aguilera-Mederos said in an interview Monday that his legal team hadn’t yet determined an appropriate sentencing recommendation.
But the lawyer, James Colgan, said 20 to 30 years was still “significantly higher than we think is just.” It’s always been our contention that this was a series of negligent decisions,” he said. “He’s not a danger to society. Those are the kinds of sentences you give to dangers to society.”
Aguilera-Mederos was hauling lumber on Interstate 70 on April 25, 2019, when the brakes on his semi-truck failed, prompting a fiery chain-reaction crash that involved 28 other vehicles.
His truck was traveling at 84 mph before the crash.Doyle Harrison, 61; William Bailey, 67; Stanley Politano, 69; and Miguel Lamas Arrellano, 24, were killed.
About The Author
