Tech gets 30 years for infecting patients

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A former Mayo Clinic radiology technician in Jacksonville, Fla., was ordered to spend 30 years in prison for infecting patients with hepatitis C.

The sentencing judge said a second person has died since becoming infected by needles Steven L. Beumel, 49, used on himself, The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union reported.

Beumel was indicted in May 2011 after an investigation found he had infected at least five people with hepatitis C.

He pleaded guilty this past May to 10 federal charges, including tampering with a consumer product that caused great bodily harm, one resulting in death, and stealing the pain-killer Fentanyl by deception.

He could have received life in prison.

William Edward Ramsey Jr., a Methodist minister, died in 2010 following a 2006 liver transplant surgery in which Beumel used needles he had used on himself, officials said.

Another patient infected by Beumel has also died, U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard said during sentencing.

Court documents showed that from 2006 to 2008, Beumel stole syringes containing Fentanyl during surgeries, used them on himself and then refilled them with saline and replaced them.