Transgender Inmate with HIV gets up to 8 years for spitting in PA

Inmate with HIV gets up to 8 years for spitting | Wilkes-Barre News | The Times Leader

WILKES-BARRE – A former inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas was sentenced to up to eight years in prison on Tuesday for spitting on a corrections officer.

Shawn Shannon “Nicole” Quinnones, 34, who was found guilty by a
Luzerne County jury in September, was sentenced to four years and three
months to eight years and six months in state prison by Luzerne County
Court of Common Pleas Judge Chester Muroski.

Quinnones, who is transgender and infected with HIV, was found
guilty of assault by a prisoner, aggravated harassment by a prisoner
and recklessly endangering another person. Her partner, Anthony Gray,
27, was found guilty of aggravated harassment by a prisoner.

The two were accused of spitting on corrections officer Ralph
Laiuvara at SCI-Dallas in October 2006. Prosecutors said the pair, who
claim they are lovers, were upset that guards would not put them in
cells next to each other.

The trial lasted for four days before the jury rendered a verdict after more than five hours of deliberations.

Then-assistant district attorney Ed Olexa, who is now a public
defender, said at trial that the two wanted to run the prison their way...