Fiery, fatal I-70 pileup results in 110-year sentence for driver

The driver whose tractor-trailer crashed into backed-up traffic on I-70 in the Denver area in 2019 has been sentenced to 110 years in prison.

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was convicted in October of vehicular homicide and other charges stemming from an April 25, 2019, crash. The charges stemmed from a deadly chain-reaction collision on I-70 at the Denver West Parkway bridge over the interstate in Lakewood, Colo.

He was sentenced on Dec. 13 to the mandatory minimum term set forth under state law, reports The Denver Post. The judge said he would have handed down a different sentence if he had the latitude, according to The Post.

Aguilera-Mederos told law enforcement officers that his truck’s brakes had failed when the collision happened. He was going 85 mph, he told police. He also said he tried to maneuver his truck to the shoulder but there was another truck already there, so he swerved back into traffic.

The truck passed a runaway-truck ramp on the side of the interstate intended for such emergencies. Here is a video showing a semi speeding past other stopped vehicles before the crash. The semi in the video goes by the stopped vehicles near the 2-minute mark. (Editor’s note: The video contains language that could be offensive to some.)

Four men were killed in the crash. Six others were wounded.

Aguilera-Mederos is a U.S. resident from Cuba who had a commercial driver’s license from Texas. He was driving for Castellano 03 Trucking LLC, Houston, pulling a flatbed trailer of lumber.

Aguilera-Mederos apologized during sentencing to the families of the victims, according to The Denver Post.

“I am not a murderer. I am not a killer,” he said. “When I look at my charges, we are talking about a murderer, which is not me. I have never thought about hurting anybody in my entire life.” LL