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Serial infector David Kwiatkowski to plead guilty in exchange for fraction of prison sentence

Posted: August 13, 2013 |   Comments



(http://www.nydailynews.com) In July 2012, David Kwiatkowski was arrested for stealing pain-killer drugs and infecting patients with the hepatitis C virus. Kwiatkowski originally faced nearly 100 years in prison for his heinous acts, but he could now receive as little as 30 years behind bars.

The sentence reduction came as a result of a plea agreement. Kwiatkowski agreed to plead guilty to 14 federal drug theft and tampering charges in exchange for a lighter sentence of 30 to 40 years in prison. If he had been convicted at trial, he could have been sentenced to up to 98 years behind bars.

Kwiatkowski was a traveling hospital technician who has worked in 18 hospitals in seven different states. He would steal syringes of the painkiller, fentanyl, inject himself with it, and then replace the syringes with another liquid to be used by patients, transferring the blood-borne virus, hepatitis C, to others. He said that he began stealing drugs in 2002 and was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2010. Based on his estimations, Kwiatkowski swapped out syringes at least 50 times in New Hampshire, at least 30 times in Georgia and more than 20 times in Kansas.

In 2004, he was fired from one hospital for failing a drug test and then fired from another for gross misconduct. After resigning from two others while under investigation for drug use, Kwiatkowski began work as a traveling technician.

32 New Hampshire patients have been diagnosed with the strain of hepatitis C carried by Kwiatkowski. There have also been seven cases in Kansas and one in Pennsylvania. One of the patients from Kansas passed away with the hepatitis C infection having played a "contributing role," according to the plea agreement.

Linda Ficken, one of Kwiatkowski's victims from Kansas, said that she's glad he pleaded guilty but wishes he was given a longer sentence. "It should've been life, since he gave us potentially a death sentence," she said.

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