More than Three Million People Demand Polis to Pardon Aguilera

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE WILL REVIEW THE APPLICATION 

Newsroom El Comercio de Colorado

Haga click aquí para leer la versión en español

More than three million people from all over the country recently joined a campaign to reduce and alter the sentence imposed on Rogel Aguilera Mederos, a Cuban truck driver. Aguilera was sentenced to 110 years in prison for an accident near Denver in April 2019 in which four people died.

“It seems that the judge does not understand what ‘accident’ or ‘justice’ means. A failure of the brakes cannot lead to a sentence of more than a century. If I had the money, I would pay for the best lawyer to help Rogel,” said Miguel Paneke, one of the thousands of people who expressed solidarity with the Hispanic driver.

The Petition

“They treated him worse than school shooters. Rogel should be the spearhead to change the unjust sentence laws in Colorado,” added Paneke, who is of Cuban origin. Since the sentence was announced, more than 1.6 million people have signed a petition on Change.org.

Many individuals, empowered by the state constitution, are calling for Colorado Governor Jared Polis to step in to change the sentence. These persons claim that Polis’ action is necessary because Aguilera, 25, was not drunk at the time of the accident, and cooperated with authorities.

Polis’ Response

The prosecution also requested that the sentences for each of the charges against Aguilera Mederos be served consecutively, thus extending his time in jail. Governor Polis was questioned about the possibility of granting Aguilera a pardon, to which he replied that he is waiting to receive the petition for clemency. Polis made sure his office reviews all applications.