FREDERICK COUNTY, Md. — A Frederick County judge on Friday sentenced a 37-year-old man to decades in prison for knowingly transferring HIV to three women.
Rudolph Jericho Smith was sentenced to 21 years in prison on Friday after his Alford plea. An Alford plea is considered to a type of guilty plea, said Maryland officials.
While Smith did not formally admit guilt, his Alford plea acknowledges that the state had enough evidence to convict him on the three counts of second-degree assault and three counts of knowingly attempting to transfer HIV.
The Frederick Police Department said it started looking into Smith in February 2017 after separate women told officers that Smith had infected them with HIV.
Frederick police spent a significant amount of time determining if Smith was HIV positive, and also if he knew that he was HIV positive when he had sex with these women, officials said.
Frederick police said they were able to determine Smith knew of his condition as of 2014 and still was having unprotected sex, and so charges were filed against him.
"While HIV is not what it was 15 years ago with effective treatments that now exist, these victims will be impacted by this defendant’s actions for the rest of their lives," Frederick County State's Attorney Charlie Smith said.
Smith's Alford plea was originally accepted by the court on Sept. 13.
After his release from prison, Smith will be on probation for five years, officials said.
Smith was initially charged with first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and knowing transfer of HIV prohibited.
According to Maryland health officials, 994 people above the age of 13 were diagnosed with HIV infection in the state during 2018.