DENVER, CO – Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was granted clemency from Gov. Jared Polis. Aguilera-Mederos was serving a 110-year prison sentence following a crash resulting in the deaths of four people in Denver, Colorado. Aguilera-Mederos’s sentence lead to public outrage and an online petition seeking clemency with around 5 million signatures, many of which were truckers. His sentence as reduced to 10 years, with parole eligibility on 12/30/2026.
Gov. Polis stated in a letter, “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. While you are not blameless, your sentence is disproportionate compared with many other inmates in our criminal justice system who committed intentional, premeditated, or violent crimes. Your highly unusual sentence highlights the lack of uniformity between sentences for similarly situated crimes, which is particularly true when individuals are charged with offenses that require mandatory minimum sentences. This case will hopefully spur an important conversation about sentencing laws, but any subsequent changes to the law would not retroactively impact your sentence, which is why I am granting you this limited commutation.”
The individuals who lost their life in this tragic accident are 24-year-old Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 67-year-old William Bailey, 61-year-old Doyle Harrison and 69-year-old Stanley Politano.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
