Colorado

Over 3 Million Sign Petition to Change 110-Year Jail Sentence of Truck Driver in Crash That Killed 4

“This tragic accident wasn’t done with intent, it was an accident," the petition says. It demands his sentence be commuted to time served or he be granted clemency

AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File

Over 3 million people have signed a petition demanding to change the 110-year jail sentence handed down Monday to the truck driver who said he lost control of his brakes in a fiery Colorado crash that left four dead. 

Just four days after Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was given his hefty sentence based on the state’s mandatory minimum laws, over 3 million people have signed the petition demanding his sentence be commuted to time served or that Gov. Jared Polis grant him clemency. 

Aguilera-Mederos, 23 at the time of the crash, said the brakes on the semitrailer he was driving failed on the downhill grade on I-70 eastbound before he crashed into cars that were stopped because of another accident on April 25, 2019. In the wreck, vehicles erupted in flames and four people died.

Prosecutors argued that Aguilera-Mederos acted recklessly and made a series of poor decisions before the deadly wreck, including failing to use a runaway truck ramp on the side of the highway, NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver reported during the trial.

Judge A. Bruce Jones said his hands were tied due to the law, saying, “If I had the discretion, if I thought I had the discretion, I would not run those sentences consecutively."

Gov. Polis’ office said in a statement on potential clemency to NBC affiliate KSN: “We are aware of this issue, the Governor and his team review each clemency application individually.” NBC News has reached out to Polis' office for further comment.

Read the full story here on NBCNews.com

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