Rogel Aguilera-Mederos | United States: Colorado governor commutes Cuban truck driver’s death sentence from 110 to 10 years | Jared Police | The world

The governor of Colorado, Jared Police, granted a measure of mercy to a young Cuban truck driver this Thursday. Rogel Aguilera-Mederos By reducing his sentence from 110 to 10 years after an accident that killed four people.

In 2019, four people, 23-year-old Aguilera-Maduros, were killed and several others were injured when a wooden truck they were driving collided with several cars parked on Interstate 70 west of Denver.

The defense alleges that the young man did not use the emergency ramp to prevent a catastrophe because the brakes on the truck he was driving failed.

State law requires that the sentence for certain charges faced by Aguilera-Medero, including assault and attempted assault, be at least 10 years, and establishes that the sentences should be served continuously rather than simultaneously. A few weeks ago 110 years.

The size of the sentence sparked a heated debate in the United States.

“I think you deserve mercy for many reasons. You were sentenced to 110 years in prison, which is actually more than a life sentence for a tragic but accidental act,” the police read in a letter to Aguilera-Mederos, in which he granted Aguilera-Mederos future parole.

“Even if you’re not without guilt, your sentence is commensurate with the number of inmates in our criminal justice system who commit violent, deliberate, planned crimes.”

“The size of the 110-year prison sentence does not apply to your actions or the penalties imposed on others for similar cases,” he added.

What happened in the accident

On April 25, 2019, Aguilera-Maduros lost control of a freight truck on Interstate 70 near a shopping center west of Denver.

As confirmed by investigators in this case, the truck’s brakes began to overheat on a steep descent, and Aguilera-Maduros continued on his way despite seeing smoke coming from them.

As the truck’s brakes completely failed, Aguilera-Mederos avoided the accident by not using the emergency lane to stop the vehicle, instead the truck collided with several vehicles parked between states due to the accident. Area.

The impact was so severe that it ended the life of Miguel Angel Lamas Arelano, 24; William Bailey, 67; Doyle Harrison, 61, and Stanley Politano, 69.

According to Aguilera-Mederos, the young man “thought he was going to die, so he closed his eyes before colliding with a parked vehicle.”

Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.

This is why the arbitral tribunal found the youth guilty of six counts of first-degree assault “with gross negligence”; Ten counts of first-degree attack attempt “with extreme indifference”; Two counts of vehicle attack; Irresponsible driving fees; Four people have been killed for reckless driving.

Duan Bailey, the brother of one of the victims, told a local newspaper Denver Post: “He deliberately and deliberately decided that his life was more important than everyone else on the road that day.”

“I’m not guilty”

During the interrogation, the young truck driver cried and apologized to the victim’s family.

“I am not guilty. “I am not a murderer. Looking at the accusations against me, we are talking about a murderer, it is not me. I have never thought of hurting anyone in my life.

He said his life was “difficult” after the incident and he continued to think about the dead.

“I lost my brakes. Truckers know this is a tough time. You can do nothing. You can do nothing,” Aguilera-Maduros said while reading the sentence.

Kim Kardashian complains

The sentence against Aguilera-Mederos provoked the solidarity of millions of people and led to a lawsuit seeking its reconsideration.

“As Colorado law requires sentencing in this case, the law allows it to reconsider its sentence in an exceptional case involving unusual and protracted circumstances,” the attorney said.

Petition for mercy to the young man who was on stage Change.org Received millions of signatures.

Reality star Kim Kardashian He spread the message of solidarity with Aguilera-Maduros on his networks, joining the voices of numerous legal experts and activists who condemned the so-called mandatory minimum sentences that allowed Cuban 110 years in prison.

“The mandatory minimum removes and eliminates judicial discretion,” he wrote. “Colorado’s laws really need to change.”

Kardashian recalled how the judge of the case recognized that he did not want to impose such a long sentence on the young man, but state laws did not allow him to reduce it to his liking.

___________________________________

Recommended video

This may be of interest to you