The case of the Cuban driver had made headlines in the US.
The sentence of more than a century in jail to a Latino immigrant for a deadly traffic accident in 2019 was reduced to ten years this Thursday after a massive plea for clemency.
“After learning of the atypical high and unfair sentence in your case, I am commuting your sentence to ten years, and allowing you to apply for parole on December 30, 2026,” Governor Jared Polis wrote in a letter to Rogel. Aguilera-Mederos.
The 26-year-old Cuban immigrant was driving a truck with wood in April 2019 on a highway in the mountainous state, when he lost control of the vehicle causing a spectacular accident that left four dead and six injured. The driver argued that the brakes did not respond.
In October he was found guilty on various charges, including reckless driving causing death. Two weeks ago, he received the 110-year sentence, the minimum possible under local law for the charges he was awarded.
More than 4.6 million people signed a petition asking for clemency, and even star Kim Kardashian, who is preparing to be a lawyer, joined the public outcry.
“Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos has a clean traffic report and has nothing on his criminal record,” states the request addressed to the governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, and the judiciary.
“I think you deserve clemency for a number of reasons,” Polis wrote. “Although you are not blameless, your sentence is disproportionate compared to other people in the criminal justice system who have committed violent, premeditated or intentional crimes.”
The governor pointed out that the case illustrates the need to discuss the regional legal framework that establishes mandatory minimum penalties for some crimes.
“I’m begging for forgiveness,” the driver said in tears in court two weeks ago.
Four people aged 24 to 69 died in the accident.
The prosecution had requested a new hearing to reconsider the extension of the sentence. (I)
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