A Missouri man was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison for recklessly infecting one sex partner with HIV and risking the infection of four others.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that African American Michael L. Johnson, 23, a former Lindenwood University wrestler was found guilty of five felony charges after testimony that included experts in infectious diseases and the men who had unprotected sex with him. One of the men contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
St. Charles County Circuit Judge Jon Cunningham, who issued the sentence, told Johnson he had committed “very severe” crimes. Prosecutors said he didn’t tell the partners he had HIV.
“The main thing is the profound effect your actions have had on the victims and their families,” the judge said.
Assistant prosecutor Philip Groenweghe said Johnson deserves severe punishment, saying he lied to his partners that he was HIV-negative. “This defendant was totally irresponsible and placed countless people at risk,” Groenweghe said.
The sentence handed down to Johnson is in sharp contrast to the sentence given to Thomas Guerra back in May when San Diego Superior Court Judge Kathleen Lewis sentenced Guerra to 180 days in jail for his no contest plea of spreading HIV to a former boyfriend.
In the San Diego case Guerra was charged with a misdemeanor as the District Attorney declined to pursue the case. Similar to the Missouri case one of Guerra’s victims appeared in court and described how much his life had changed after developing AIDS. The probation report described Guerra as “a danger to public safety” and urged that he get the maximum sentence of six months in jail for the misdemeanor crime.
At the time of sentencing San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said, “The judge imposed the maximum sentence, which she indicated was inadequate given the damage done to the victim and the danger to the public posed by the defendant. To our knowledge, this is the first conviction of a willful HIV transmission case in California. We hope this tragic case helps to educate people that they have a legal obligation – as well as a moral and ethical obligation – to inform their sex partners of their HIV status.”
