On Dec. 30, 2021, Governor Jared Polis of Colorado granted clemency to Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, reducing his sentence from 110 years to 10 years, with the possibility of parole in five years. Since assuming office in January 2019, Polis has encountered his fair share of obstacles: divisive politics, a climate crisis and the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which all the nation’s governors have faced.

Amidst Polis’ political rise, however, one recent dilemma stood above the rest and redirected the international spotlight onto the Colorado governor’s office, an undoubtedly rare occurrence.

The case of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, a 26-year-old Cuban immigrant truck driver, gained international attention after having received a 110-year sentence on Dec. 13, 2021, after being convicted of 27 counts, including vehicular homicide, in October 2021.

The Texas-based truck driver who was transporting timber on I-70 through the Rocky Mountain foothills on April 25, 2019, testified that his brakes had failed and he had lost control of his truck, resulting in a fiery 85 mph crash that caused a 28-car pileup under an overpass in Lakewood. The accident claimed the lives of four people and wounded six others.

Those who lost their lives were Stanley Politano, 69, William Bailey, 67, Doyle Harrison, 61 and Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 24. According to Jefferson County District Court Judge Bruce Jones, the sentencing judge in this case, due to mandatory minimum sentencing laws in Colorado, he had to impose the 110-year sentence following the guilty verdict.

“If I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence,” Jones said.

In an interview with 9News Denver, Ian Farrell, a Sturm College of Law professor at the University of Denver, explained that if you are convicted of a crime of violence, each offense’s minimum sentence is extended.

“Each of them individually might have, say, a four-year minimum, or because it’s a crime of violence, an eight-year minimum. But when you add that up consecutively over this number of charges, you get what is effectively a life sentence,” Farrell said.

In the trial, prosecutors pointed to several pieces of evidence to successfully establish criminal negligence on behalf of Aguilera-Mederos, indicating he had passed at least two runaway truck ramps, which are designed for those situations. He told police he did not drive into the median because he did not want to roll the truck and that before approaching the line of traffic at 85 mph, he had shut his eyes believing he was going to die.

Following the sentencing, a petition was created to push Governor Polis to grant commutation as time served or clemency for Aguilera-Mederos, which had gathered more than 5 million signatures. This came amidst a trucker boycott of Colorado as a protest to Aguilera-Mederos’ sentencing and to push Governor Polis to grant clemency, which gained significant social media traction, trending with the hashtags #NoTrucksToColorado or #NoTrucksColorado.

In his clemency letter, Polis called the sentence “highly atypical and unjust.” The decision was met with varying reactions. Many were relieved and delighted that Aguilera-Mederos would not have to serve what was seen by the judge, prosecutors and defense attorneys alike to be too long.

However, there were also those who felt angered, shocked and confused by the governor’s sudden decision, especially those whose family members lost their lives in the terrible incident.

Leading up to the governor’s announcement to grant clemency to Aguilera-Mederos, the governor met with the victims’ family members at least twice, particularly on Dec. 30, the day of the announcement. In a recently released video of one of the meetings that transpired, as Polis expressed hope that the decision would offer closure, the victims’ family members interrupted the governor and expressed outrage. Several questioned why Polis had decided to grant clemency only weeks before the scheduled reconsideration hearing was to take place, with some even accusing the governor of making this decision for political gain

Duane Bailey, younger brother to William Bailey, one of the victims in the incident, complained that the governor was unnecessarily inserting himself into the case, and believed it was best to leave these proceedings to the courts. “The governor said he did this to restore faith in the judicial system…To me that proves he did not have faith in the judicial system…Because if you had faith in the judicial system, he would allow the hearing to take place and let the judge set the sentence,” Bailey said.

Prosecutors in the case informed the victims and their families that they would advocate for a reduced sentence of 20 to 30 years. Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King moved for reconsideration of the sentence, with a hearing scheduled for Jan. 13, 2021, the hearing Duane Bailey was referring to, which was canceled in light of the governor’s announcement.

It appears that most of the victims’ family members were not displeased with the idea of clemency, but instead outraged with how minor the sentence was reduced to given the criminal negligence he had been convicted of.

The victims’ family members, however, were not the only ones dissatisfied with the announcement. Judge Jones says that his office was not formally informed about the governor’s clemency decision before he made his announcement, and instead learned about the decision through news reports.

“The court respects the authority of the governor to [commute the sentence]… Based on the timing of the decision, however, it appears this respect is not mutual,” said Jones.

In an interview with Kyle Clark on 9News Denver, Governor Polis explained his timing as an effort to end the “circus” and “drama” surrounding the case. Polis also described the process that went into his decision-making, detailing how he instructed his team to research the “normal” penalty for that crime, and expressed a hope that Democrats and Republicans would work together to fix the law implemented in the 1980’s that led to this judicial dilemma.

Polis’ sudden decision to grant clemency only weeks before a scheduled reconsideration hearing, one that given the opinions of all those involved in the case would have ultimately resulted in a significantly reduced sentence with judicial discretion, can be seen as a panicked, political gamble.

Nonetheless, most of the victims’ family members and the majority of the public supported the resolution of clemency, regardless of how much time the various camps wanted Aguilera-Mederos to serve.