By: Ernest Gurulé
The decision by Colorado Governor Jared Polis to reduce a century-plus prison sentence for the driver of a semi-truck responsible for multiple deaths and numerous other injuries will never be described as Solomanesque, that is, one thought to be fair to both sides in a dispute. The decision, commuting the prison sentence of a 23-year-old man who drove his semi-tractor trailer into rush hour traffic, from 110 years to a mere decade, has not sat entirely well.
It was an April 2019 day that Coloradans had waited for. The winter was, if not over, then all but over. Spring was in the air as I-70 drivers slowly made their way into the metro area just west of Lakewood when the semi-trailer truck driven by then 23-year-old Rogel Aguilera-Mederos blew through the afternoon bottleneck creating a horrific scene of deadly and gruesome dimension.
Aguilera-Mederos said he tried everything he could to control the vehicle, somehow slow it down, but its brakes, he said, had given out miles earlier. When the vehicle made impact it was traveling an estimated 85 miles per hour. The crash caused a 28-vehicle pileup. Four people were killed, numerous others suffered injuries. The crash also triggered explosions creating a heat intense enough to melt cars and the roadway.
In October 2021 Aguilera-Mederos was found guilty of four counts of vehicular homicide and four counts of careless driving causing death and sentenced to 110 years in prison, a sentence even presiding Jefferson County District Court Judge Bruce Jones found excessive. “If I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence,” Jones told the courtroom. Because of Colorado’s mandatory-minimum sentencing laws, it was not up to Jones.
The sentence drew not only gasps locally, but also nationally. More than four million people, including prison reform advocate, Kim Kardashian and thousands around the world, signed a petition demanding the sentence be reduced. Truckers from across the nation pledged a boycott of Colorado. National organizations, including LULAC, the League of Latin-American Citizens, pleaded Aguilera-Mederos’ case. Even the prosecutor, Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King, explored other options.
“We initiated plea negotiations but Mr. Aguilera-Mederos declined,” said King, adding that Aguilera-Mederos’ team wanted nothing more “than a traffic ticket.” King inherited the case from her predecessor, Peter Weir.
Attorneys for Aguilera-Mederos refused any plea citing numerous mechanical problems with the truck, including simple brake failure. Instead, they argued that the trucking company for whom Aguilera-Mederos drove should be held accountable, citing the vehicle’s numerous mechanical issues.
Following the sentencing, Judge Jones had indicated he might reconsider the sentence. DA King also had begun work to revisit and, perhaps, offer something less than the 110-years Aguilera-Maderos faced. But Governor Polis’ commutation short-circuited any reviews or reconsideration, a decision that landed like a wrecking ball. Some members of the victims met with the Governor via Zoom and indicated they might accept a sentence in the 20-30 year range. They, like Judge Jones and DA King, also expressed concern about the swiftness of Polis’ decision. Kathleen Harris, whose husband, Doyle, died in the collision, also wondered why. “That’s the thing,” she said. “What is your urgency,” she said in an interview with Colorado Public Radio.
A January hearing had been scheduled for reconsideration of Aguilera-Mederos sentence, but the commutation forced cancellation. In acceptance, but not agreement, Judge Jones issued a five-sentence comment with the Governor. “The court respects the authority of the governor to do so,” he wrote. “Based on the timing of the decision, however, it appears this respect is not mutual.”
DA King’s office had already begun calculating an alternative sentence for Aguilera-Mederos, one not bound by mandatory minimum guidelines set forth by state law. A January 13th court date had been scheduled and King was expected to introduce an alternative sentence. “We will likely be recommending a sentence of between 20-30 years when the court is ready to go to that hearing,” King said prior to Polis’ action.
King’s displeasure with the commutation was evident, characterizing Polis’ decision as both disappointing and premature. She met with victims’ families to let them know that her office would “support them in navigating this unprecedented action and to ensure they are treated with fairness, dignity, and respect during this difficult time.”
With the stroke of a pen, Polis erased a 110-year sentence and redrew it to a decade and, perhaps, as few as five years with good behavior. While Aguilera-Madero’s’family and attorneys may have been pleased with the sentence reduction along with countless others shocked by its original length, family members of his victims were not.
“The Governor said he did this to restore faith in the judicial system,” Duane Bailey, brother of crash fatality Bill Bailey. “To me that proves he did not have faith in the judicial system. Because if you had faith in the judicial system, he would allow the hearing take place and let the judge set the sentence.” Bailey made his remarks on The TODAY Show. Along with Bailey, other victims included Doyle Harrison, Stanley Politano and Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano.
A spokesman for the Governor, Conor Cahill, defended the commutation saying that it did not imply Aguilera-Maderos was not guilty. “This individual will go to jail just as others who have committed similar crimes…There was an urgency to remedy this sentence and restore confidence in the uniformity and fairness of our criminal justice system.”
The company for whom Aguilera-Mederos drove on the day of the wreck, Castellano Trucking, LLC, has since dissolved and reemerged as a new entity. Denver television station KUSA reported that in its former incarnation it had a history of violations including those involving brakes and brake connections. The company is now known as Volt Trucking.
