A new hearing was set Monday to potentially resentence the trucker who was ordered to serve 110 years in prison for killing four people in a crash on Interstate 70 in Lakewood in 2019.
Judge A. Bruce Jones scheduled the new hearing Monday, two weeks after 26-year-old Rogel Aguilera-Mederos was sentenced. District Attorney Alexis King said she intends to ask the court for a reduced sentence of 20 to 30 years; however, Aguilera-Mederos’ defense attorneys are expected to ask the judge to go even lower.
The resentencing hearing will be held at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at the Jefferson County courthouse in Golden. Jones said he intends for the hearing to be in-person and for Aguilera-Mederos to attend, unless COVID-19 risks prevent that from happening.
This comes after nearly 5 million people signed a petition criticizing the 110-year sentence, calling on Gov. Jared Polis to grant Aguilera-Mederos clemency or to commute the sentence.
Aguilera-Mederos was convicted of 27 counts, including vehicular homicide, assault and attempted assault, for the fatal crash on April 25, 2019.
During the crash, Aguilera-Mederos’ brakes failed while he was driving 85 mph in a section of I-70 in Lakewood where commercial vehicles are limited to 45 mph. The crash tore into heavy traffic and erupted in a blaze involving 28 vehicles.
The crash killed 24-year-old Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 67-year-old William Bailey, 61-year-old Doyle Harrison and 69-year-old Stanley Politano.
Aguilera-Mederos had no criminal record before the crash and was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when the wreck occurred. The lengthy sentence was handed down due to mandatory minimum sentencing laws that require the sentences to run consecutively, rather than at the same time. The judge said he would not have imposed the sentences consecutively if it were up to him.
In the trial’s closing arguments in October, prosecutor Kayla Wildeman argued that Aguilera-Mederos was responsible for the crash, saying he was speeding through mountain towns while riding his brakes and failed to use a runaway truck ramp several miles before the crash. However, defense attorney James Colgan blamed the failed brakes on improperly maintained parts.
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