“I am writing to inform you that I am granting your application for a commutation,” Polis wrote in a letter late last month to truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos. “After learning about the highly atypical and unjust sentence in your case, I am commuting your sentence to 10 years and granting you parole eligibility on December 30, 2026.”

On Dec. 13, Mederos was sentenced to 110 years in prison after he plowed into traffic stopped on Interstate 70 outside of Denver, leaving four dead and several injured in 2019. He told investigators that his brakes failed but police said he was driving 40 mph over the speed limit and drove past a runaway truck ramp before driving into traffic.

Mederos was found guilty of 27 counts — the most serious was first-degree assault, a class-three felony, Mark Osborne and Deena Zaru reported for ABC News. State laws reportedly require that his sentences be served consecutively, instead of at the same time – which led to the lengthy 110-year sentence.

“The length of your 110-year sentence is simply not commensurate with your actions, nor with penalties handed down to others for similar crimes,” Polis said in his letter. “There is an urgency to remedy this unjust sentence and restore confidence in the uniformity and fairness of our criminal justice system, and consequently I have chosen to commute your sentence now.”

Politicians, activists and the general public immediately began calling for a lesser sentence. Even the judge on the case said if it were up to him, the sentence would be significantly shorter. Among those advocating for a lesser sentence, ABC reported, were the family members of some of those killed in the accident.

“I think we all can agree that [110 years] is excessive,” Duane Bailey, the brother of William Bailey who died in the crash, told “GMA,” but added that the jury “came to the correct decision to convict [Mederos].”

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CNN reported that Aguilera-Mederos, was going 85 mph in a semi on Interstate 70 when he hit traffic in Lakewood, Colo. He told investigators that his brakes failed, and he tried to pull over on the shoulder, but another semi was already stopped there. He crashed into several vehicles and four people were killed in the pileup.

A jury found Aquilera-Mederos guilty of 27 counts including vehicular homicide and vehicular assault in October, the New York Times reported. Judge A. Bruce Jones sentenced him to 110 years in prison.

“If I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence,” the judge said, according to Reuters.

But Colorado state law requires sentences for each count to be served separately, rather than at the same time. So, Aquilera-Mederos’s 27 counts brought a sentence over a century long.

Journalists, criminal justice advocates, businesses, lawmakers and the general public have called on Colorado state legislators and the governor to commute the sentence and change the laws.

“I have been in this system for 32 years and I have never seen anything like this,” said James Colgan, a lawyer for Aguilera-Mederos.

Prosecutors have argued that Aguilera-Mederos was responsible for the deaths because of several decisions he made while behind the wheel, including not steering the truck, which was hauling lumber, onto a runaway truck ramp along the highway, NYT reported.

“I think the chances are pretty good that the governor is going to look at that favorably,” he said, adding, “This is truly, truly, truly something that is out of the ordinary.”

The wife of one of the victims in the crash told NYT she does believe Aguilera-Medeiros’s sentence should be commuted, but that legislators should reevaluate the state’s sentencing laws.

“This person should spend some time in prison and think about his actions,” said Ms. Evans, 65. “I don’t think he should be let off with a slap on the wrist.”

She reportedly told NYT that she and the other family members of the victims dispute the “public narrative” that Aguilera-Mederos is a victim.

“We are truly the victims,” she said, adding that she believes Aguilera-Mederos made “bad decisions all along the way that day.”

The office of Color. Gov. Jared Polis said it would review the driver’s application for clemency. And the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Colorado said it had filed a motion to reconsider the penalty.

“We’re not saying he’s innocent and didn’t make mistakes,” Colgan told the NYT. But that “the punishment has to fit the crime and this punishment does not fit the crime.”

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CNN reported that Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was going 85 mph in a semi on Interstate 70 in April 2019. He reportedly told investigators that his brakes failed. He said he tried to pull over on the shoulder, but another semi was already stopped there. A 28-car pileup ensued and four people were killed, according to Lakewood Police Department.

Aguilera-Mederos has been found guilty of vehicular homicide and 23 other charges including extreme indifference, attempt to commit assault and reckless driving, according to Colorado’s First Judicial District Attorney’s Office. He was sentenced to the minimum on all counts, totaling 110 years, to be served consecutively.

“Colorado law requires courts to sentence most individuals convicted of certain categories of crimes to a mandatory minimum period of incarceration,” the Colorado General Assembly website states.

After a trial last week, Aquilera-Mederos’ attorney said the 26-year-old doesn’t deserve to die in prison, CNN reported.

“There will be an appeal as to the facts and mistakes made in the trial,” said attorney James Colgan. “The issue with this appeal will not be the sentence itself. Under the law, the Court was not incorrect. However, the law, as written, is barbaric and Draconian,” Colgan told CNN. “There needs to be a change in the law.”

Story courtesy of CNN.com.

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