Coloradans may never find out who tried to influence Gov. Jared Polis and what kinds of discussions the governor held in his decision to commute the 110-year sentence of a truck driver whose actions in 2019 led to a fiery 28-car pileup that killed four and injured several others.

Or at least not from the governor’s office.

The Polis administration told Colorado Politics it will not disclose information about who the governor met as he considered how to respond to public pressure seeking leniency for Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, the truck driver convicted of four counts of vehicular homicide and 23 other charges following the April 2019 crash on I-70 in Lakewood. More than five million people had signed a petition calling for Polis to grant clemency or commute the sentence.    

“We don’t disclose who the governor meets with during this process – it’s up to the parties to do so,” a governor’s spokesperson said.

Colorado Politics specifically asked whether Polis met with Kim Kardashian West, the reality TV star and businesswoman who championed Aguilera-Mederos’ case, and who, in a series of tweets in December after the court handed out the 110-year sentence to the truck driver, said Colorado law “really has to be changed and this is so unfair.” She added: “@GovofCO is a really good person and I know he will do the right thing.”

Kardashian West is among the most active Hollywood personalities on the criminal justice front. She lobbied former President Donald Trump, for example, to sign legislation considered by many to be the most significant overhaul of federal sentencing laws in recent years. She also has reached out to state policymakers across the country to push for changes in criminal laws.

Kardashian West, who recently passed California’s First-Year Law Students’ Examination, which puts her on a path closer to becoming a lawyer, praised Polis’ decision to shorten Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence.

“Thank you @GovofCO for taking action to reduce Mr. Aguilera- Mederos sentence!” she tweeted. “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.”

The governor’s office did not deny meeting with the celebrity-turned-activist, but the governor refused to answer when, where or how the meeting took place, who initiated it, the context of the discussion, or if they talked about other matters, notably criminal justice policies.

Gubernatorial spokesperson Conor Cahill would only say various people contacted the governor’s office about Aguilera-Mederos’ 110-year sentence, which Polis viewed as “bizarre.” Cahill said many wanted Polis to issue a complete pardon.

“The governor looked at the bizarre punishment of 110 years, researched how similar crimes were punished, and boldly acted to ensure that this crime was punished in a consistent way as other similar criminal acts,” Cahill said. “The governor believes that if you do the crime, you do the time, and did not consider a pardon or full commutation of the sentence and rather brought the sentence in line with how others have been punished for similar crimes.” 

To some, the governor’s refusal to disclose conversations that might have influenced his decision to shorten the 110-year sentence raises transparency issues.

“Where is it written that they get to have secrets about who gives them advice?” said George Brauchler, who served as the District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District and co-authored a study from the Denver-based Common Sense Institute about soaring crime rates in the state.

Brauchler accused the governor of seeking political points: “It was done to assuage the governor’s interest to appease a certain individual, perhaps Kim Kardashian, or perhaps Kim Kardashian and her base.”

He also challenged Polis’ argument that a 10-year sentence is “consistent” with how other similar crimes would have been punished. The former district attorney said he can’t think of a person who was found guilty of killing four individuals and received 10 years as a prison sentence.

District Attorney Michael Allen, whose jurisdiction encompasses El Paso and Teller counties, expressed a similar sentiment.

Allen called Polis’ decision “wholly inappropriate.”

“I urge Gov. Jared Polis to spend less time listening to celebrities from other states and more time listening to victims of crime and the great citizens here in the state of Colorado,” he said. “What he did in the I-70 trucker case was wholly inappropriate due to timing and for the shameful way he treated the victims in that case, as witnessed in the recorded meeting he had with victim family members.”

Allen was referring to a story by 9News about the testy exchange between Polis and the families of the victims of the I-70 crash.

That Zoom call was, unbeknownst to the governor, recorded and shared with “Next with Kyle Clark,” according to 9News.

“It is my hope that this gives you some closure on this,” Polis said during the meeting.

“No, it doesn’t,” replied one person, adding, “This is entirely political.”

“You are just victimizing us again,” another person said.

Allen said Polis should have waited for the court process to play out.

A judge had set a hearing this month to potentially resentence Aguilera-Mederos, and District Attorney Alexis King said she intended to ask the court for a reduced sentence of 20 to 30 years. The hearing has since been canceled.

“He (Polis) should have listened to the victims. They were pleading with him to wait for the court process to complete,” Allen said. “That’s the first thing that was wrong, and it shows disrespect to the victims and to the criminal justice system.”

Speaking broadly – and not specifically on the Aguilera-Mederos case – Nancy Lewis, Executive Director of the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance, said what’s crucial for crime victims and their families is to be consulted before a major decision, such as a commutation or pardon.

“It doesn’t mean the official will listen to the crime victim,” she said. “We would prefer that they do listen – they (the victims) are the ones most affected by the crime.”

In an email, the governor’s office defended the decision to extend leniency to Aguilera-Mederos.

“There was an urgency to remedy this sentence and restore confidence in the uniformity and fairness of our criminal justice system,” the office added.

The Change.org petition seeking leniency for Aguilera-Mederos argued that he had no prior driving or criminal record, and the accident was “not intentional, nor was it a criminal act on the driver’s part.”

The governor stepped in because mandatory sentencing requirements tied the hands of the judge who handed down the 110-year sentence, his office said, emphasizing that Aguilera-Mederos will serve in jail “as others who have committed similar crimes were punished.”

Polis’ hope, his office also said, was that his action would help lead to healing and closure.

“The governor understands that these families have been through a terrible tragedy, lost family members, loved ones and have been forced to endure this in a very public manner. It is the governor’s wish that his just decision, and the harsh ten year sentence of the perpetrator, is an important part of the closure and healing process for the victims,” his office said.