(Los Angeles) A truck driver sentenced to 110 years in prison in the US state of Colorado for killing four people in a traffic accident had his sentence reduced to 10 years on Thursday, after intense online mobilization.
More than 5 million people, including reality star Kim Kardashian, have asked for leniency in an online petition for Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, who had been given a 110-year minimum sentence, in accordance with Colorado law .
The length of this sentence “is simply not proportional to your actions, nor with the sentences imposed on others for similar crimes,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis said Thursday in a letter to Mr. Aguilera- Mederos.
“There is an urgent need to remedy this unjust sentence and to restore confidence in the regularity and fairness of our criminal justice system, and therefore I have decided to commute your sentence now,” he added.
Cuban immigrant Rogel Aguilera-Mederos was carrying wood in April 2019 when his brakes failed on a descent, without using the emergency lane.
In its mad rush, his truck had caused a pile-up with 28 vehicles, killing four people and injuring several people.
Mr. Aguilera-Mederos had been found guilty of all 27 charges against him. The trucker will be eligible to apply for parole from December 2026.