A petition to show leniency towards a truck driver who accidentally killed four people has passed 4.5 million signatures.
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was sentenced to 110 years in prison last week for the April 2019 crash in Colorado.
Aguilera-Mederos told police he lost control of his brakes and was unable to avoid traffic that was backed up, hitting 28 vehicles.
Doyle Harrison, 61, William Bailey, 67, Miguel Angel Lamas Arrellano, 24, and Stanley Politano, 69, who were all travelling in separate vehicles along the highway at the time were killed.
The driver was convicted on 42 counts, including vehicular homicide, first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault, reckless driving and careless driving.
Judge A. Bruce Jones said despite the driver passing all of the drug and alcohol tests that were given including a chemical test, his hands were tied because of mandatory minimum laws and gave him the minimum allowed.
Now more than 4.5 million people have signed a petition on Change.org to have the sentence commuted.
“Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, 23 has nothing on his driving record, or on his criminal history,” the petition reads. “This accident was not intentional, nor was it a criminal act on the driver’s part. No one but the trucking company he is/was employed by should be held accountable for this accident. No, we are not trying to make it seem any less of a tragic accident that it is because yes, lives were lost. We are trying to hold the person who needs to be held responsible, responsible. The trucking company has had several inspections since 2017, with several mechanical violations.”
The Denver Channel reported that Castellano 03 Trucking had been hit with 30 safety violations, including for brake issues in the two years prior.
Prosecutors argued that Aguilera-Mederos could have taken steps to avoid the crash, including steering onto the runaway truck ramp he passed on the way down, or veering away from the stopped traffic.
