A truck driver convicted on charges in connection with a 2019 crash in Colorado that killed four people was sentenced Monday to 110 years in prison.
Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, of Houston, was sentenced in a Jefferson County, Colorado, courtroom by Judge A. Bruce Jones, who gave Aguilera-Mederos the minimum sentence on 27 counts, which will be served consecutively.
On April 25, 2019, Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was driving a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70 when the truck lost its brakes coming out of the Rocky Mountains. The truck bypassed a runaway truck ramp and rammed into stopped traffic, causing a fiery 28-vehicle pileup that killed four people and wounded six others.
Those killed included: Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 24; William Bailey, 67; Doyle Harrison, 61; and Stanley Politano, 69.
A jury in October found Aguilera-Mederos guilty of four counts of vehicular homicide, six counts of first-degree assault, 10 counts of attempted first-degree assault, four counts of careless driving causing death, two counts of vehicular assault and one count of reckless driving.
He was found not guilty on 15 counts of first-degree attempt to commit assault.
Prosecutors in the case argued that Aguilera-Mederos made a series of bad choices that resulted in the crash, including his failure to use a runaway truck ramp on the highway.
Aguilera-Mederos wept and apologized in the courtroom after his sentencing was announced. He maintained there was little he could do after losing brakes coming out of the mountains.
“I am not a murderer. I am not a killer,” Aguilera-Mederos said after his sentence was announced in court, according to the Denver Post. “I lost my brakes. The truck drivers, they know it’s a hard moment, you can’t do anything. You can’t do anything.”
Jones said he had to sentence Aguilera-Mederos under the guidelines set by the law but may revise the sentence in the future if Aguilera-Mederos seeks a review. The judge said he had “no desire to see” Aguilera-Mederos in prison for the rest of his life.
“I accept and respect what the defendant has said about his lack of intent to hurt people, but he made a series of terrible decisions, reckless decisions,” Jones said.
Curt Independent Comm. Ins Agent
No one is saying anything about the drivers claim that his brakes failed, why?
Did they fail?
The real questions are did they fail and who is responsible for that failure?
What and who is responsible for those brakes?
Is it the driver?
Is it an outside private vendor mechanic repair shop?
Is it the company mechanic?
Is it the Risk and Safety Manager for the company?
Is it Dispatch?
Is it the “OWNER” of the company if he works for someone else?
Is it the Risk & Safety Manager and the company Owner for not providing better training to the driver for a runaway truck?
What is the drivers FMCSA driving record showing?
What is the company’s FMCSA driving record showing?
Even as an owner operator there are many more people involved in this equation of who is responsible for the deaths of those 4 people.
At the company level yes, there are even more people responsible.
One scapegoat is not the answer.
Holding all accountable will ultimately change the industry for the better by improving training, maintenance, inspections and lowering insurance costs.
There are a lot of great drivers out there and many have clean records.
There are also some hard driving hard pounding cowboys who need to be corralled and cleaned up or removed from driving altogether.
I have seen both types.
It’s no different for anyone who drives a car or a commercial truck.
There are way too many cowboys in cars too.
Insurance agents have to stop pushing paper quotes and get directly involved in the details of the trucking companies Safety, Training, and Maintenance Best Practices.
Insurance agents and Owners need to work together to resolve a lot of these issues before they happen.
Don’t hire a friend or a family member or a nice face to be your insurance agent and please don’t say you hired them because they speak a language other than English.
DOT rules state all owners and drivers with a DOT Drivers License must speak understandable English.
Hire only an agent who does want to become a valued member of your trucking team because of their knowledge in how to better serve your company and your drivers.
Receiving Quotes at 4:55 PM on a Friday for a Saturday renewal does not make a good agent.
In fact that’s a terrible agent.
Insurance Pricing is NOT how to run your trucking company.
If it was, then truthfully all owners and 1099 Owner Operators would be following all of the rules and complying to all DOT regs without any questions thereby keeping insurance costs down for all drivers.
We all know that’s not the case.
Hire a terrific and knowledgeable Agent even if they say some things that you do not like but you know they are Telling you the truth.
Truth is a very important Risk & Safety Management Tool that will keep your costs of everything down.
Respectfully
Curt
UBI Consultants
A National Independent Agent
Trucking and ALL Business Insurance
including Workers Comp & Occupational
Accident and State Insurance Pool Accounts
ubi@insurer.com
Heidi L Bires Reed
He needs to fight another Appeal. Why because he lost his breaks coming off a Mountain the jury was not thinking straight at all during this trail it’s not like this Truck did this on purpose.
Da pos
Lately, judges let you see poor decision making, lack of judgment or biased. Why do I say this?
1. Emma Coronel, wife of a big drug lord, el chapo, got 18 month in prison, ridiculous! It’s all about $.
2. The case of Kyle Rittenhouse, innocent!
3. And now this young man Rogel Lazaro is punished that bad. Justice got way too biased in America.
Maggie Rodriguez
This is a Absolute Outrageous Sentence, He had so much Remorse. Criminals get less of a sentence for Horrific Crimes our Justice System is so out of touch with Reality of what is right and wrong!! The Drivers are within their rights we need to Protect our Big Rig Diesel Drivers , This was a Accident i totally empathize with all that lost loved ones but two wrongs don’t make a right….It would be much better served to Educate than to punish in anger it serves Absolutely No Purpose.
I am just so sad for this Man and his Family…..Anger never serves as a tool for healing it only prolongs it. Please let this Man go home to his family, He will live with this the rest of his life and that is Punishment Enough 😢
Anjanette
I couldn’t agree more! This man will be heartbroken for the rest of his life because of this, he doesn’t need any additional punishment for a terrible accident that happened.
Godspeed
If there ever was a reason for truckers to shut down their trucks, this is it. Shut down their trucks until they reduce the sentence. Anytime anyone operates a vehicle they take a chance they may get into an accident, and possibly lose their life. This guy is not a criminal
Jon doe
Broken justice system
Joseph
So sad. I hope and pray they go easy on him. The reality is this could happen to any of us.
ravenshrike
He pulled over earlier on the route. Ostensibly for something else besides his brakes, but multiple witnesses reported him checking his brakes and smelling a burning smell. He passed multiple runaway ramps prior to his brakes fully cooking on him, and one after. There were multiple other areas to get the rig off the road but not safe for him. He at no point engaged his jake brake, and did not leave the rig in a low gear after having pulled over the first time instead pushing his speed to or past the speed limit. Then when offered a plea deal, he refused and responded that he only deserved a traffic citation. That could not happen to anyone.
Yolande
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