LISBON, Ohio - Next month Tony McKenzie would've celebrated his fifth wedding anniversary with his wife.
But instead, he was taken into police custody in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court in Lisbon to serve a three year prison sentence for felonious assault. He pled guilty to failing to disclose to his wife that he is HIV positive.
"This is the first case of this nature to be prosecuted in Columbiana County," said Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Tim McNicol. "It's a relatively new statute."
McKenzie met his wife in 2007. His wife, who asked not to be identified, says she suspected something was wrong because he was sick so often. She repeatedly asked him if he had a disease.
"I asked him nonstop, every time he got a cold," she told 21 News.
But he denied any disease. When McKenzie had pneumonia in 2010, she thought it was odd that he had to see an infectious disease doctor.
"When he got sick in April, being a phlebotomist, I knew what they were testing for," she remembered.
At the hospital McKenzie finally told her he was diagnosed with HIV back in 2003.
She called police and he was charged with felonious assault. She tested negative for HIV, but must continue testing for nine years.
"You're waiting to see if you're going to be testing positive," she said. "I mean, it's like going through hell, literally. Knowing that in two days you can either get a negative result or a positive result."
McKenzie apologized in court, saying he still loves his wife.
"I can't take it back," McKenzie told Judge Scott Washam as he asked for probation. "It's already done and over with. But I do love my wife and I do love her with my heart. And I'm trying to put our marriage back together."
His wife plans to file for divorce. She's happy with the sentence.
"I feel good about it," she said. "Other than I wanted more, because I've got to be tested for the next nine years. So you know, I'll take whatever the judge gives. More would've been nice."
She says her life is forever changed because of his lie. "I have no trust in men, I have little to no friends left, I've been losing jobs because of this. I mean, it's hard."
Judge Washam said he took into account McKenzie's "extensive" criminal past, including a petty theft arrest last month, as well as the seriousness of the crime when he denied probation.
"The law essentially states that anyone who knows themselves to be HIV positive and fails to disclose that status to their sexual partner is guilty of felonious assault," explained McNicol. "Just as if the offense had occurred with a deadly weapon, it's within the same statute. It's a serious felony of the 2nd degree."
