Man Pleads Guilty To Knowingly Transmitting HIV
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- The Minneapolis man accused of passing the HIV virus to others has pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted first-degree assault.
Daniel Rick, 33, reached a plea agreement on Monday relating to a 2009 case. He had been convicted in 2011 of attempted first-degree assault under a statute that makes it illegal to knowingly transfer a communicable disease.
Two men said that Rick had met them online. They then invited him to their home and had unprotected sex with him. His online profile didn't say that he was HIV-positive, nor did he say he was HIV-positive in person at their home.
Last year, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Rick was wrongfully convicted under an incorrect interpretation of an ambiguous state law.
The Hennepin County attorney declined to retry Daniel Rick on the charges overturned by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
As part of the plea agreement, charges in two other cases against Rick were dropped. He has been sentenced to three years' probation, concurrent to the 15 years of probation he was sentenced to over a criminal sexual conduct conviction in Sherburne County.