DA Seeks Review Of Truck Driver's 110-Year Sentence In CO Pileup

JEFFERSON COUNTY, CO — A district attorney filed a motion to reconsider a 110-year prison sentence for a truck driver who caused a deadly multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 70 in Colorado in 2019.

District Attorney Alexis King filed the motion to request a hearing for Rogel Aguilera-Mederos.

"As Colorado law required the imposition of the sentence in this case, the law also permits the Court to reconsider its sentence in an exceptional case involving unusual and extenuating circumstances," the motion reads.

The review will not overturn the conviction supported by the evidence in the case, but rather it allows the court greater flexibility, King said.

"When my team and I spoke to the surviving victims and families of those who lost their lives about the possibility of resentencing, it was their specific desire to be heard in this process," King said in a statement.

"So, yesterday, we filed another motion requesting that the court expedite that hearing so they would have the opportunity to be heard by the presiding judge who best knows the facts of the case and the evidence presented at trial."

King said her top priority is ensuring that those impacted by the deadly crash are able to share details with the court.

"We understand and appreciate the frustration of those seeking immediate consideration and ask for patience as we take the steps allowed by law before the judge who knows this case and the community that was impacted," King's statement reads, in part. "As we move forward, we will continue to have meaningful conversations with the victims and their loved ones."

After the sentencing Dec. 13, millions of people signed an online petition asking Gov. Jared Polis to grant clemency to Aguilera-Mederos. His lawyer then turned in a clemency application to the governor's office, and Polis said it was under review. The governor is set to meet with families who were impacted by the crash and survivors.

Aguilera-Mederos was driving the truck, a flatbed loaded with lumber, around 85 miles per hour eastbound down I-70, bypassing several emergency truck pull-off areas, police said. He then crashed into vehicles that were backed up after another crash on the highway, prosecutors said.

The fiery crash damaged the highway and kept the road closed for more than 24 hours. Aguilera-Mederos told police that the brakes on his truck failed and he feared rolling his semitrailer, so he didn't pull off the highway.

The victims of the crash were identified as William Bailey, 67, of Arvada; Doyle Harrison, 61, of Hudson; Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 24, of Denver; and Stanley Politano, 69, of Arvada.

"It's been difficult, sometimes it feels like being half a person," said Kathleen Harrison, who lost her husband Harrison in the crash. She offered her statement during the sentencing.

In October, Aguilera-Mederos was found guilty by jury on 27 counts, including vehicular manslaughter, vehicular assault, first-degree assault, first-degree attempt to commit assault, reckless driving and careless driving. He was also found not guilty on 15 counts of first-degree attempt to commit assault.

During testimony, Aguilera-Mederos's defense argued that the brakes on his truck were faulty, while prosecutors argued that the driver made a series of bad choices leading to the crash, including not using a runaway truck ramp to the highway.

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