23 year old sentenced to 110 years for brake failure

denver.cbslocal.com...

Not sure if this has been covered on ATS, but a truck driver, aged 23, was sentenced to 110 years for the death of 4 people in a crash that involved his truck.

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos is the driver who crashed an out-of-control semi truck into stopped traffic on Interstate 70 in Lakewood in 2019, killing four people and injuring several others. The crash damaged or destroyed 28 vehicles. Aguilera-Mederos was convicted of 27 counts, including vehicular homicide. On Monday, a judge in Jefferson County sentenced him to 110 years in prison. By Thursday morning, than 1.5 million people had signed an online petition asking Gov. Jared Polis to grant clemency, or commutation as time served.

They argued in court, when he realized his brakes 'went', he should have steered his vehicle elsewhere instead of into stopped traffic. Understandably, this would be the perfect thing to do but perfect situations don't happen often.

Without intent and realizing that you may kill someone in front of you, you're being asked to put your OWN life in jeopardy by crashing 'elsewhere'. It may not have even been something that the man registered in his head to do.

I do agree this is absolutely serious, but I don't think for a second Rogel had intent to do what he did...If this hasn't been talked about, I would appreciate some conflicting thoughts on the matter.

I personally think he would be responsible as the driver of a truck who failed to check his brakes before going out for work, OR the company that owns the truck and failed to perform maintenance checks periodically. I can't attribute all the blame to the driver because there are a lot of companies that swap out drivers/trucks daily. I would preferably need more information to draw a conclusion as to who is responsible for the brakes.

a reply to: JimmyNeutr0n

Not sure if this has been covered on ATS....

Yes, it has.

originally posted by: Alien Abduct
a reply to: JimmyNeutr0n

Not sure if this has been covered on ATS....

Yes, it has.

Awesome, can you link me please, ATS search didn't pull me up anything but I did also just search for his name..

a reply to: JimmyNeutr0n

Awesome, can you link me please, ATS search didn't pull me up anything but I did also just search for his name..

It's still on the "new" page.

previous thread

a reply to: JimmyNeutr0n

That is insane.
I know a truck driver here in Ontario whom has killed 2 people in highway collisions over the years.
Accidents deemed not his fault, and not a single day spent in jail.
However, he lives with it everyday and actually put himself in the hospital for 6 months because of the guilt.

So I just saw that the guy had his sentence reduced by the Colorado governor to 10 years. Over 5 million people signed petitions against the over zealous 'mandatory' 110 year sentence.

trucker's 110-year sentence to 10 years

By: Robert GarrisonPosted at 4:34 PM, Dec 30, 2021 and last updated 12:13 AM, Dec 31, 2021

DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday reduced the sentence of the semi-truck driver convicted of killing four people in the April 2019 explosive crash on Interstate 70.

Polis granted clemency to Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, reducing his sentence from 110 years to only 10 years.

www.thedenverchannel.com...

The ridiculous sideline comments about "I would have done xyz" from people who have never faced such a situation. It's easy to sit there and Monday-morning quarterback something like this that happens so fast in real life. The guy was a truck driver, not a superhero.

Tractor trailer rigs have buttons on the dash that once activated locks the wheels so they don't roll. Why didn't he use that. Clear negligence of the driver.

it's a nasty road. he should have been in low gear going down that grade. it would have taken some strain off the breaks anyway.


he'll do a few yrs and then get out.

my brother drove rigs for years. he's had his breaks catch fire. had to pull over and put it out with dirt.

a reply to: StoutBroux

I think that the families of the victims coming out and saying that the sentence was too harsh is what sent this over the top.