Truckers Boycotting an Entire State Over Driver’s 110-Year Prison Sentence for Accident

Some truckers seem to be refusing to make deliveries in the state of Colorado after last week’s sentencing of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos. Aguilera-Mederos was sentenced to 110 years in prison for his role in a 2019 crash that killed four people in Colorado. Growing chatter on social media indicates that many truckers have vowed to “boycott Colorado” altogether, and a petition to have Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence commuted has gained over 4.5 million signatures.

Viral videos all over social media show stationary cargo trucks, with voice-over or captions from their drivers saying they will not deliver in Colorado out of solidarity with Aguilera-Mederos. One of the most prominent videos shows a long line of trucks stopped on the highway with the caption: “UNITED WE DEFINITELY CAN BE HEARD,” but the context of this clip cannot be verified at the time of this writing. Regardless, it’s clear that some truckers are taking a stand on Aguilera-Mederos’ behalf, calling on the Colorado judiciary system to reconsider his case.

According to a report by ABC7 News, Aguilera-Mederos was driving a semi-tractor-trailer on a highway in Denver, Colorado, when his brakes failed. He admitted to law enforcement that he was going well over the speed limit at about 85 miles per hour, and said that he tried to pull over to the shoulder to avoid a collision but could not because another semi-truck was already stopped there. There was no alcohol or drugs in the driver’s system when he was tested immediately after the crash. His truck ran into stopped traffic, causing a 28-car pileup and a deadly fiery explosion.

Aguilera-Mederos was found guilty in October and was sentenced just last week. The 26-year-old was convicted on vehicular homicide and 23 other charges related to the crash, but critics say that the charges and the sentence are overkill. Truckers on social media are saying that they do not want to work in a state where they will be held personally responsible for these kinds of accidents, believing that Aguilera-Mederos’ employer should share some accountability for his failing brakes and his desperate schedule.

“A lot of truckers are afraid to go to Colorado. Colorado has a lot of mountains, a lot of hills,” said Tony Salas, co-founder of the Greater Houston Trucking Association. He told Inside Edition: “[Aguilera-Mederos] was only 23 years old and had never drove outside of Texas and went into a terrain that has a lot of mountains. From our understanding, there was already an incident ahead of him, and his equipment failed on him.”

“We fully support and stand with the boycott of industry and business to Colorado,” Salas added, speaking on behalf of his association. A spokesman for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told ABC: “We welcome and application” for an appeal from the defense, “and will expedite consideration.” It is not clear if the boycott has had any significant impact on the supply chain in Colorado at the time of this writing.