Colorado

Truck Driver Sentenced to 110 Years in Colorado Wreck That Killed 4

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos said his brakes were not working before his big rig slammed into stopped traffic on a highway, causing vehicles to burst into flames

FILE – Workers clear debris from the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 on April 26, 2019, in Lakewood, Colo., following a deadly pileup involving a semi-truck hauling lumber.
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

The driver of a semi who crashed into stopped traffic on a Colorado interstate two years ago, killing four people and injuring others, was sentenced to 110 years in prison Monday.

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Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, now 26, has said his brakes 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. A fire erupted that engulfed vehicles.

Judge A. Bruce Jones said his hands were tied by a law passed by state lawmakers that required him to sentence truck driver Aguilera-Mederos to consecutive sentences, meaning they are served back-to-back.

Aguilera-Mederos addressed the judge and said that he did not mean to hurt anyone.

“It’s hard to live with this trauma. I can’t sleep, I’m thinking all the time about the victims,” he said. “... This was a terrible accident, I know. I take the responsibility. But it wasn’t intentional.”

Read the full story on NBCNews.com.

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