In the United States, a truck driver who caused a fatal accident in April 2019 has been given a 100-year reduced sentence. That happened after fierce protests broke out and celebrities like Kim Kardashian opposed the 110-year prison term the Cuban immigrant received earlier this month.
The then 26-year-old Rogel Aguilera-Mederos was driving a truck and drove into a traffic jam more than two years ago because his brakes gave out. The accident killed four people and injured several others. A jury found him guilty, and a judge sentenced him to 110 years in prison.
However, Colorado Governor Jared Polis decided on Thursday to reduce the “arbitrary and unlawful” sentence by 100 years to 10 years in prison. “The length of the prison sentence was simply disproportionate to your actions, nor to punishments imposed on others for similar crimes,” Polis wrote in a letter.
More than 4.5 million Americans had called on the governor to reduce the sentence in an online petition. On the other hand, a lot of people also called on the public to give him a more lenient sentence. For example, reality star Kim Kardashian stood up for him and said someone who had been on the jury during the trial found the sentence excessive. It, therefore, rained satisfied reactions after the reduced sentence.
With the act, Polis hopes that “confidence in the fairness of the criminal justice system will be restored”.
