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DENVER (KDVR) — The office of Gov. Jared Polis is reviewing a clemency application for Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, who was sentenced to 110 years in prison in a deadly crash on Interstate 70.

In a news conference Tuesday, Polis confirmed that a clemency application for Aguilera-Mederos was submitted to his office.

Responding in Spanish to a question from a Spanish-language media outlet, Polis said, “We just received the application yesterday evening from his attorney and my legal team is reviewing it right now. When we have a decision, we will announce it.”

The First Judicial District attorney has also filed a motion for the court to hear a reconsideration of Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence.

The movement in the case comes just more than a week after pushback erupted over the sentence, which a vocal contingent has decried as excessive. FOX31 has reached out to the victims’ families multiple times for comment on the controversy but has not heard back from any of them.

Leonard Martinez, an attorney for Aguilera-Mederos, said he’s “encouraged by the support he’s getting right now.”

“He broke down in tears when I told him about the 4.5 million people that have already signed a petition,” Martinez said.

Mandatory minimums for crimes of violence

Aguilera-Mederos was driving an 18-wheeler eastbound on I-70 through the mountains when he claimed his brakes failed as he traveled toward the city. He ultimately crashed into more than two dozen stopped vehicles and four semitrailers in Lakewood, killing four people and hurting at least 10 more.

The 110-year sentence for Aguilera-Mederos was the result of mandatory minimum sentencing laws that apply to crimes of violence, which are any offense in which a person is killed or suffers serious bodily injury.

Aguilera-Mederos was convicted of:

  • Four counts of Vehicular Homicide
  • Six counts of Assault in the First Degree – Extreme Indifference
  • 10 counts of Attempt to Commit Assault in the First Degree – Extreme Indifference
  • Two counts of Vehicular Assault – Reckless
  • One count of Reckless Driving
  • Four counts of Careless Driving Causing Death

Aguilera-Mederos’ family is expected to join community groups Wednesday to call for Polis to take action on the sentence.