Dozens of drug addicts protest outside Colorado capitol against 110-year sentence of reckless trucker

[Daily Mexican]

Dozens gathered outside Colorado's Capitol building in protest
of the 110-year sentence given to a Houston truck driver found
guilty in a 2019 deadly car pile-up.

"Whether that’s clemency in the form of a partial commutation or
some other action, we’re asking that Governor Polis review that
case," said Democratic state Sen. Julie Gonzales Wednesday.

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, who was 23 at the time of the crash, was
sentenced in Colorado last week to 110 years in prison after he
was found guilty on 27 counts in the 2019 crash that killed four
people and injured others.

Investigators of the crash said Aguilera-Mederos lost control of
the semi-truck after its brakes failed on a highway near Denver.
The truck failed to take runaway truck ramps and was going about
85 miles per hour before it slammed into dozens of other cars
that were stopped on the highway, causing an explosion.

Prosecutors argued that Aguilera-Mederos could have used several
runaway ramps before the crash but instead made a "bunch of bad
decisions."

Comments:

ReaganRepublicanNowIndependent
9 hours ago

I watched a video of the sentence hearing. The judge gave the
defendant the minimum sentence in each of the charges of which
he was convicted. The problem is the way Colorado law is
structured. In a case when the defendant is found guilty on
multiple charges, the sentences cannot be served simultaneously.
The sentences MUST BE SERVED consecutively. Thus, this young
man has a 110-year sentence. The story fails to mention that
he was also offered a plea deal, which he refused. He probably
refused the plea deal for it would have permanently revoked his
CDL.

BostonMrk
9 hours ago

A big problem is charge 'stacking', where a single crime results
in multiple charges. Then there's the issue of can the sentences
be served concurrently or not.

Meh12345
7 hours ago

I work for the courts... and this is not at all true. It is
under specific statues relating to specific crimes, but not
simply for having multiple charges on a single case. I WISH what
you were saying is true, I have seen individuals sentenced to
70+ cumulative years that would serve less than 10.
EDIT: Just to clarify, it is the COLORADO courts I work for

slojoemustgo
9 hours ago

Failing brakes. In all the years I drove I only knew one way for
brakes to fail, driving too fast for conditions and overheating
the brakes to slow you down. On top of that, if he was going 85
he was in the wrong gear for going downhill. He probably
deserves a lesser sentence but not much less, it was his fault.

MarkinTennessee
9 hours ago

I’ve been trucking 26 years. He burned up his brakes due to
inexperience resulting in total brake failure. Did he intend to
kill anyone? No. Definitely not. Did he cause the deaths of four
people from his own inexperience similar issues? Sounds like
that would be the case. Semi truck brakes simply do not fail.
There are built in safeguards in case of mechanical failure. He
just probably had no business behind the wheel of the truck with
so little experience.

BTKidd
9 hours ago

I spent 35 years on the road driving big trucks and you are 100%
correct. It is his fault for causing all that death and
destruction. After watching the video he shouldn’t have been in
a semi truck because he didn’t know how to operate it. No
excuse. His company should be held accountable too.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/protest-denver-trucker-110-year-
sentence-rogel-aguilera-mederos