HIV positive college student sentenced for having unprotected sex with his girlfriend

Jet, Sept 23, 2002

A college student in South Dakota was recently ordered to spend 120 days in jail for having sex with his girlfriend without revealing that he has HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Nikko Briteramos, 19, a basketball player at Si Tanka-Huron University in Huron, a city in South Dakota, was also given a five-year suspended prison sentence and ordered to spend 200 hours in community service. He will serve his time in Beadle County jail, but will be able to attend classes at the college.

He was the first person convicted in South Dakota of intentionally exposing another person to HIV. He also was the first person charged under a South Dakota law that makes it illegal to knowingly expose someone to the virus that causes AIDS through unprotected sex (JET, May 27).

Briteramos, of Chicago, read a handwritten statement in court. "I am truly sorry for all the harm that I caused to my friends and to Huron University. I would like to publicly apologize to my school, friends and family for the shame and embarrassment I've brought them."

Defense lawyer James Koch said Briteramos had been in a monogamous relationship with the victim for several months. The woman sent a letter urging the judge not to imprison Briteramos, the lawyer said.

Briteramos admitted having unprotected sex with the woman in his dorm on April 13. The woman later tested negative for HIV.

He was arrested after Health Department officials discovered Briteramos and the woman in his dorm room. He later admitted to having unprotected sex with her.

He was initially charged with three counts of intentional exposure to the AIDS virus. Two counts were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea.

In handing down the sentence, Circuit Judge Tim Tucker stressed that Briteramos must continue his college education, explaining that he would be freed from jail to attend classes and work. "If you quit school, I will look hard at sending you to the penitentiary," the judge warned him.