DENVER — Kim Kardashian West is joining the growing calls for a reduction of the 110-year prison sentence given to 26-year-old Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, the truck driver who crashed into stopped traffic on Interstate 70 in April 2019, killing four people.
Judge Bruce Jones said his hands were tied when sentencing Aguilera-Mederos. State legislation mandated 10-year minimums for six counts of first-degree assault with extreme indifference, and five-year minimums for 10 counts of attempted first-degree assault with extreme indifference, all to be served consecutively.
"In all victim impact statements I read, I did not glean from them someone saying, 'He should be in prison for the rest of his life, and he should never, ever get out," Jones said during the sentencing hearing. "Far from it. There was forgiveness reflected in those statements, but also a desire that he be punished and serve time in prison, and I share those sentiments."
Kardashian West took to social media to explain why she thought his sentence should be commuted.
"He was not drunk or under the influence, his brakes on the semi tractor-trailer failed," she tweeted. "Another shocking and unfair part of this case is that the judge didn’t want to sentence him to such a lengthy sentence. However, because of the mandatory minimums in Colorado, his hands were tied. Mandatory minimums take away judicial discretion and need to end."
Kardashian West called for Colorado to change the laws that required the 110-year sentence, and appealed directly to Gov. Jared Polis to intervene in Aguilera-Mederos' sentence.
"I pray that Governor Polis, who has been a leader on supporting reforms that increase human dignity in the legal system, will commute his sentence," she said.
Kardashian West also criticized a photo a Jefferson County deputy district attorney posted on social media of a trophy she received from a colleague: a brake shoe from a semi-truck with a plaque attached.
The post from Kayla Wildeman’s Facebook page, which doesn’t include a date, was screenshotted and shared among a community of defense attorneys. Wildeman’s Facebook page couldn’t be accessed on Monday. Her other social media accounts, including her LinkedIn, appeared to have been deactivated.
Alexis King, district attorney for the 1st Judicial District, issued a brief statement Monday indicating the matter was being handled internally.
“It is not a piece of evidence from the case,” the statement, issued through a spokesman, said. “The post was in very poor taste and does not reflect the values of my administration.”
The spokesman later clarified that King finds the trophy in poor taste.
"And yet, for some reason the prosecutor thought it would be funny to post a photo of a brake shoe trophy she received from a colleague with a plaque?" Kardashian West said. "Makes me so sick."
Prosecutors have filed a motion for the court to set a hearing to reconsider Aguilar-Mederos' sentence. King filed the motion Friday, according to a news release from her office.
Polis said Tuesday that his office received an application for clemency from Aguilera-Mederos' attorney on Monday afternoon, and that his legal team was reviewing the application.
A petition calling for Polis to commute Aguilera-Mederos' sentence has received more than 4.5 million signatures as of Tuesday.
> Watch Aguilera-Mederos speak during the sentencing hearing:
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