{"id":217,"date":"2026-05-15T21:34:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T21:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=217"},"modified":"2026-05-15T21:34:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T21:34:02","slug":"gov-jared-polis-commutes-sentences-of-9-people-including-some-sentenced-to-life-without-parole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=217","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Jared Polis commutes sentences of 9 people, including some sentenced to life without parole"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced Friday that he is pardoning 35 people and commuting the sentences of nine others, including former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who he is making eligible for parole on June 1, cutting in half her nearly nine year sentence for orchestrating a security breach of her county\u2019s election system in 2021.<\/p>\n

Read more Tina Peters isn\u2019t the first Colorado convict to become a central figure in a governor\u2019s race<\/a><\/p>\n

Three of the men receiving commutations were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in the 1990s and early 2000s: Joseph Aguayo, convicted of felony murder, Eugene Gilbert, convicted of first-degree murder and Mondo Moralez, convicted of first-degree murder, according to Polis.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aguayo will be eligible for parole in 2033, Polis said, Gilbert in 2027 and Morales in 2043.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The Mountain Ear newspaper reported that Aguayo did not pull the trigger in the 1991 murder of Rex Miller in Rollinsville, a small town along Colorado 119 between Nederland and Black Hawk, but was present for it, the crime known as felony murder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2021, Polis signed a law reducing the sentencing standard for people convicted of felony murder, bringing it down from life without parole to a sentence of between 16 and 48 years in prison.<\/p>\n

Read more Does each chronically homeless person cost taxpayers $30,000 to $50,000 per year?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve changed that, but that doesn\u2019t retroactively change it for people,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n

Polis described Gilbert as a minister and a \u201cmodel inmate,\u201d adding that he is also legally blind. Polis said Morales killed someone who had raped his niece. The governor described the murder as a \u201ccrime of passion\u201d and a \u201cterrible situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTerrible crime, but you understand the motivation,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n

In addition to Peters, Polis is releasing these people on parole on June 1:<\/p>\n