Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - August 30, 2002
Nikko Briteramos, a basketball player at Si Tanka-Huron University, was the first person charged under South Dakota's 2-year-old law making it a felony to deliberately expose someone to the AIDS virus.
Briteramos read a hand-written statement before sentencing Thursday apologizing to this family, friends and teachers.
"I believe I'm capable of much better, and I intend to become a person who helps," he said.
Circuit Judge Tim Dallas Tucker sentenced Briteramos to five years in state prison, but suspended the sentence ordering him to spend 120 days in the Regional Correction Center and complete 200 hours of community service, addressing high school and college students.
"The court wants you to be the poster child for AIDS awareness in his community and other communities," Tucker said
Tucker also ordered the teen to continue his college education and to not have unprotected sexual intercourse without telling his partner he is HIV-positive.
Briteramos could have been sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $15,000.
"If you quit school, I will look hard at sending you to the penitentiary," Tucker said.
Three people tested positive among 237 HIV tests performed in the town of 11,000 by the state and county, but not Briteramos' girlfriend.
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