AIDS-infected man gets prison time for having unprotected sex

A Las Vegas man told his lovers he suffered with cancer and diabetes, but he never told them he had AIDS.

Ironically, 45-year-old Luis Diaz was director of the HIV/AIDS program for the Nevada Association of Latin Americans and knew of the infectious and dangerous nature of the disease he carried.

Yet he had unprotected sex with at least two women and routinely tested his blood, as part of his diabetes care, while one woman's 5-year-old son stood nearby, Deputy District Attorney Craig Hendricks said in court Tuesday.

District Judge Sally Loehrer chastised Diaz as "a danger to society" and ordered him imprisoned for two to six years on the charge of attempted intentional transmission of human immunodeficiency virus.

Loehrer said it was "absolutely willful and totally unacceptable conduct" to expose a child to his infected blood during diabetes testing.

Hendricks said that despite the sex and blood exposure, HIV tests on the two women and child have been negative.

But they are not out of the woods for at least another two years because some strains of the disease can stay dormant for that amount of time.

One of the women sobbed in court and told of the terror she felt when she learned her lover may have infected her with the AIDS virus.

"This changed my life totally," the woman said through an interpreter. "I want justice to be given."

The victim said she had warned the second woman of Diaz's medical condition, but he called the story a lie and continued that sexual relationship.

"If anyone deserves prison time, it is this man," Hendricks told the judge. "He should never be released. He intentionally deceived these ladies."

Hendricks said the second victim was afraid to come to court and speak of the impact Diaz's acts had on her life because of "threats" toward her.

Diaz, who had been convicted in 1986 of lewd acts with a minor in California, only stated, "I'm deeply, sincerely sorry."

His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Virginia Eichacker, agreed that Diaz's acts were "wrong and reckless" but said he is now "a very sick man" and to send him to prison would burden taxpayers with medical costs.

But Loehrer didn't buy the argument and also rejected Diaz's request to delay his incarceration until after a scheduled surgery later this month.

Diaz, who pleaded guilty on Sept. 29, had been free on bail pending his sentencing.