What Happened:

Recently, 26 year old Rogel Aguilera-Mederos was found guilty over an unfortunate accident that occurred a couple years ago, in 2019. The incident began with Rogel driving his semi-truck on I-70 in Colorado, in which his breaks failed, resulting in a fiery crash that started a huge pile up which caused the deaths of 4 people, and injured many more. Rogel who survived the crash told investigators that his breaks failed and he couldn’t stop the truck. Now over 2 years later he is being charged with 110 years in prison.

You might be asking why Rogel is being charged if it were an accident, and that’s what many more are asking too. But investigators say that Rogel had multiple opportunities to stop his truck, one of these was a truck ramp, which is made for trucks with breaking problems. But many still say that it wasn’t his fault, as Rogel was a new truck driver who wasn’t that experienced and panicked in the situation. Now millions across the US, are fighting for his freedom, there is now an online petition on Change.org with almost 4 million signatures, and thousands of truck drivers, are refusing to take shifts through Colorado until the the situation is addressed.

Rogel, who was crying in court, asked for the victims family’s of the victims forgiveness, and stated he was sorry for what happened. Even the family’s of the victims and the judge himself stated that the sentence was too long and harsh, and that it should be lowered. Colorado law is the reason the sentence cannot be lowered, and attorney’s who charged him are also to blame. Many find it crazy that most serial killers, or rapists get less harsh sentence than the one Rogel was given. Many are saying it was due to Rogel’s race that he had such a harsh sentence, since he’s of Cuban decent. But that’s not really what’s going on here.

Protest & Petition:

As I stated earlier, petitions and protests have occurred from the situation. Online millions of people on social media speak on the matter and encourage signing the petition that was created on Change.Org, with now over 3 million signatures and still counting, people are hoping to see Rogel, be freed or get a reduced sentence. Truck drivers across the US, and especially in Colorado are also protesting. Long lines of trucks are packing Colorado’s highways as they protest, and many drivers are going on strike, or not taking shifts to Colorado. Online, many truck drivers are encouraging other drivers to not enter Colorado until the matter is dealt with and demands on met. Some are even reaching out for the president to pardon Rogel from prison.

My Take:

I am one of the many people who signed the petition to change Rogel’s sentencing and believe he doesn’t deserve his current sentence. Though I do see his mistake in not stopping the truck, I can also understand that he was an Inexperienced truck driver, and a young man who panicked when a problem occurred, leading to the tragedy. I see this as just a big mistake and accident that took a very unfortunate turn. In my opinion, the sentence should be dropped, and Rogel should just face probation, if not just a couple years in prison, or even get his truck driving license removed. I also see that his trucking company be blamed, as their lack of teaching led to this dilemma. But we will just have to see what happens over the next couple of days.