Thomas Miguel Guerra, 30, of San Diego was charged with violating California health code requiring HIV-positive individuals to disclose their status to sex partners. Guerra not only hid his status from his ex-boyfriend but also pressured to have unprotected sex with him. His ex-partner tested positive for HIV in May of 2013, and on Monday Guerra was sentenced to six months in prison.

Although willful HIV transmission has been illegal in San Diego county for 20 years, Guerra is the first man to be prosecuted for the crime. According to the The Washingon Post, Guerra began dating his ex-partner in April of 2013 after meeting on the gay dating app Grindr. He tested positive for the virus only a month later. According to his ex-partner, Guerra specifically said he was HIV-negative. It wasn’t until the ex found messages on Guerra’s computer hinting at an HIV-positive diagnosis that the truth surfaced.

Evidence against Guerra included over 11,000 text messages and 36 audio clips that seemingly proved that Guerra knew of his status and purposely kept this knowledge from sex partners.

“Yay lol. Someone getting poz that day. Already poz,” he texted one friend. “Poor Sucka,” The Post reported.

In Guerra’s defense, he claimed the texts were “jokes” between him and friends and not reflective of his true intentions. He also claimed his ex had been “reckless” and he was not to blame for him contracting HIV. Regardless, however, his attorney preferred the case not go to trial because he feared jurors would not understand Guerra’s “dark humor.”

Although Guerra was only persecuted for purposely infecting one ex-partner, another previous partner of Guerra told NBC that to his knowledge, at least 24 individuals may have been at risk of contracting the virus from Guerra. At Guerra’s sentencing, Judge Katherine Lewis expressed her wishes that she could have given the defendant more time in prison.

“I think that's a tremendous oversight in the law if this is just a misdemeanor," Lewis explained, as reported by the International Business Times.

Although Guerra may be serving the minimal prison sentence according to the Los Angeles Times, he may be required to pay his ex’s medical costs.

A total of 35 U.S. states outlaw willfully exposing others to HIV without their knowledge or consent. City Atty. Jan Goldsmith, whose office brought the charge, explained that he hoped Guerra’s case will help to educate the public of the “legal obligation as well as moral and ethical obligation to inform their sex partners of their HIV status.”