Medical tech in Hepatitis C outbreak wants sentence vacated

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A traveling hospital technician who was sentenced to 39 years in prison for infecting patients in multiple states with hepatitis C through tainted syringes has asked a federal judge to vacate his sentence, saying his lawyer was ineffective in representing him.

David Kwiatkowski (kwiht-KOW'-skee) was sentenced in 2013 after admitting he stole painkiller syringes from hospitals where he worked and replaced them with saline-filled syringes tainted with his blood. He was at New Hampshire's Exeter Hospital when he was arrested.

The 39-year-old Kwiatkowski filed his motion from prison in Sumterville, Florida. He's scheduled to be released in 2046.