Kim Kardashian has a lot to be thankful for heading into the new year and she’s started by thanking Colorado governor Jared Polis.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star is known for using her celebrity status to shed light on legal cases that she believes have ended in wrongful convictions or unfair sentences.
Right now, the biggest spotlight has been shining on the case against Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, a truck driver who unintentionally killed four people and injured six after the brakes on his semitrailer failed while traveling through a dangerous stretch in Colorado.
Aguilera-Mederos was found 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. Because of Colorado’s mandatory minimums law, he was initially sentenced to 110 years in prison.
Kim Kardashian among those asking for Colorado governor to intervene
As Aguilera-Mederos’ case became more publicized, there was an outcry over what seemed to be an unfair sentence. After all, he did not intentionally hurt anyone after his brakes failed on the mountainous I70. Aguilera-Mederos cried in court and begged the families of the victims to forgive him.
The story turned into a debate about how much responsibility truck drivers have in making sure their vehicles are safe and whether he was responsible for what happened in April 2019. And while many felt that Aguilera-Mederos should spend some time behind bars for the part he played, most agreed that 110 years was incredibly harsh and quite frankly, unfair.
The judge in the case said that his hands were tied, as Colorado mandatory minimums law required him to apply the 110-year sentence given the 27 charges that Aguilera-Mederos was convicted on despite his belief that it was far too much considering the crime.
Before Christmas, Kim took to Facebook and her more than 33 million followers there, to ask Governor Polis to reconsider Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence.
Kardashian continued her mission to help Aguilera-Mederos, calling out the prosecutor for posting a picture of her “award” for the conviction, which happened to be a brake shoe from a semi-truck fitted with a plaque that was engraved with the case information and calling out both the prosecutor and her partner for their insensitivity.
Kim Kardashian thanks Colorado governor
With pressure from Kim Kardashian, who recently angered some Spider-Man fans, was among many others, on Thursday, December 30, Governor Jared Polis commuted Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence, cutting 100 years off of it. That leaves the former truck driver with a 10-year prison sentence.
Governor Polis, in his commutation letter to Aguilera-Mederos, wrote: “The length of your 110-year sentence is simply not commensurate with your actions, nor with penalties handed down to others for similar crimes. There is an urgency to remedy this unjust sentence and restore confidence in the uniformity and fairness of our criminal justice system, and consequently I have chosen to commute your sentence now.”
Within hours of the ruling, Kim took to Facebook to thank the Colorado governor for his help.
She wrote, “Thank you Governor Jared Polis for taking action to reduce Mr. Aguilera- Mederos sentence! While his new sentence is ten years, he will now have an opportunity to come home in five years and be with his son and wife. This case was a clear example of why mandatory minimums don’t work and need to be abolished. I’m grateful to Governor Polis for his empathy and leadership on this case.”