On Thursday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis commuted the prison term for a truck driver. The truck driver who in 2019 was sentenced to 110 years to prison for a fatal accident. The sentence to reduce to 10 years after a widespread outcry and leniency calls.
Who is Jared Polis?
Jared Polis is a Colorado governor. He is an American politician, entrepreneur, education leader, and public servant.
On Thursday, Jared Polis announced the reduction of a truck driver, Rogel Aguilera Mederos sentence from 110 years to 10 years.
Under the new sentence, Mederos will be eligible for parole in five years. Mederos is a 26-year-old man.
Polis stated, “ I am writing to inform you that I am granting your application for a commutation. I believe you deserve clemency for several reasons. You were sentenced to 110 years in prison, effectively more than a life sentence, for a tragic but unintentional act.”
Polis further informed that the sentence was not commensurate with the driver’s actions. Nor with penalties handed down to other firms similar crimes.
In December, Mederos was sentenced to 110 years. It was due to a result of 27 separate charges and the strongest of them felony assault.
Mederos was driving a tractor-trailer in Lakewood on Interstate 70. This incident took place on April 25, 2019. It was west of Denver and suddenly his brakes got failed during rush-out traffic. Mederos was driving eastbound out of the Rocky Mountains. All of a sudden, he was unable to stop. Eventually, his truck got out of his control and barreled through several vehicles in a wreck. This incident killed four people.
During his sentence hearing, Mederos said a tearful statement. He said, “It hurts, I ask God too many times why them and not me? Why did I survive that accident?”
As the millions of people, including Kim Kardashian petitioned in support of Aguilera-Mederos. The Court has been asked by the District Attorney to reconsider the case. As a result, the judge agreed on it, on Monday.
In his clemency letter, Polis stated, At the end of the day, this arbitrary and unjust sentence was the result of a law of Colorado. That has been passed by the legislature and signed by a prior Governor. It is not the fault of the judge who handed down the mandatory sentence required by the law in this case.”