Michael Johnson, a.k.a. “Tiger Mandingo,” the former college wrestler sentenced to 30 years in prison for “recklessly infecting” multiple partners with HIV, has penned a heartbreaking letter from solitary confinement.
Related: College Wrestler Gets 30 Years In Prison For “Recklessly Transmitting HIV”
Though the black, gay, 24-year-old had an attorney seemingly unfit to defend him, and a jury pool stacked with white, HIV negative heterosexuals who thought being gay was a sin, he was still sentenced to 30 years in prison and will be forced to register as a sex offender upon release.
Blogger Michael Petrelis has been in contact with Johnson, and just shared the second letter Johnson has sent from solitary confinement:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
How are you doing? I’m good, still in segregation. I still don’t know for how long yet but it might be a year. I hope not! I like reading magazines you know any good subscription with stars in them? I have fun looking at picture of them in the magazines and reading up on their daily life.
I have a cell in the hole I can’t stand at all. I can’t wait to move out and get a better one hope some one nice to look at that’s pretty.
During Johnson’s trial, friends and relatives described him as “barely literate” and “naive” about HIV transmission.
Petrelis calls the case “grave miscarriage of justice,” and he’s in active contact with Johnson and his support network. He’s also attempting to have him moved into the general prison population and ensuring that the magazine subscriptions he’s paid for get to Johnson in prison.
Related: Two-Thirds Of The Jury That Convicted HIV-Positive College Wrestler Believed Being Gay Was A Sin
h/t: The Petrelis Files
Stache
“During Johnson’s trial, friends and relatives described him as “barely literate” and “naive” about HIV transmission.”
How could you be in College and this be true? Doesn’t say much at all this school of higher learning.
ErikO
I don’t feel bad for this guy since he knew he was HIV+, lied about it, and then knowingly infected other men who he had unprotected sex with. People who do this or who do not tell others about their HIV status before sex are pure evil.
SnakeyJ
How could a COLLEGE wrestler be so illiterate? His note proves he’s not illiterate. Plus, didn’t a doctor, like the one who diagnosed him, give him the details about HIV? He’s looking for sympathy but the facts don’t add up.
Stache
@ErikO: Because there’s too many evil shitheads like you who want everyone punished is the reason I tell others not to say a word.
ErikO
@Stache: So you’re HIV+ and don’t tell anyone? I’m not surprised. Where did I post that all HIV+ people deserve to be punished? I don’t believe this but if someone’s HIV+ and tells sex partners and they and their sex partners have safer sex that’s fine. But then you have a lot of HIV+ men who have a death wish and who are idiots who believe that they can do it raw with other HIV+ men and that they will not get infected with other strains of HIV or get re-infected with the strain they have, and it messes up everyone’s medication from working. The worst are the fools on PreP who do it raw and believe that they’ll stay HIV neg and STD free. But keep on being a troll.
jimontp
@ErikO: your comment has to set some kind of record for the most scientifically inaccurate one ever on this site, and the nasty little bit about HIV+ people deserve to be punished is something I’d expect on an radical religious site, not a gay one.
HIV+ men who “do it raw” do not have a “death wish”
There have been only one or two documented cases of “re-infection” with a different strain- and only in very early stage of infection, before treatment. Google it before you spout such nonsense.
HIV+ men on treatment who have raw sex DO NOT mess up ANYONE’S medication from working. Google it before you spout such nonsense.
Negative men on PreP who do it raw WILL remain negative. Google it before you spout such nonsense.
HIV+ men who are undetectable are really almost 100% incapable of infecting anyone, and totally incapable of infecting negative men on PrEP. Google it before you spout your nonsense.
The ONLY thing you got right was that PrEP does nothing to prevent other STDs.
Come on, stop with your misinformed information. Look up the research findings instead of repeating all those outdated rantings.
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
This is very depressing. Those bigoted juror assholes should be a wake up call for any gay person on trial for anything. You might get life for shop lifting simply because you are gay.
@SnakeyJ: He’s not a scholar athlete, he’s just a talented wrestler probably from a poor school district. There are lots and lots of talented athletes who are not academic at all who go onto great schools. I don’t fault him for that. His priorities were wrestling, not school. Go on Twitter and you’ll lots of professional athlete millionaires who don’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re”. That’s just the way it is. You still they’re hot at the end of the day, I’m sure.
@Stache: You should be more sensitive.
Bob LaBlah
@ErikO: I somewhat agree with you but at the same time I also say that it is just as much THEIR fault as it is his. I thought everyone and their mother knew by now that without a virtual laboratory in your home the only thing you have to go off of is the word of your sex partner, whom the ONLY thing you know for sure is that you are turned on to them. If you have unprotected sex, then be prepared for the consequences. Its just that simple.
Personally I can not deal with condoms. Things never have and still won’t “stand at attention” with their use in my case. And I find it hard to believe I am the only one in that situation. Ok, he was punished. But lets face it, that punishment handed out to him was EXCESSIVE. As a matter of fact it made me wonder were they going to now replace the drug offenders in these private prisons that have sprung up across the country with people who are HIV positive.
And lastly, PROVE that a person didn’t tell you about their status. Johnson’s problem was he took the witness stand and told the truth, and there was his downfall. Not saying those vids on his computer helped him out any. They didn’t.
Bob LaBlah
@Baba Booey Fafa Fooey: Remember when Lawrence Taylor testified before congress and showed that he could not read. The man made millions of dollars playing football but “graduated” illiterate. Its a fact of life. Entertainment value overrules what is right every time.
ErikO
@jimontp: The only nonsense being posted here is from people who are in total denial that HIV re-infection, and co-infection (or infection with a new strain of the virus) happen from HIV+ men doing it BB/raw, the people on Truvada who believe that they’ll stay neg because of the toxic medication, and a lot of those idiots who do it raw both the Preppers and pozzies have Hep C too, or will have it soon.
Bob LaBlah
@SnakeyJ: “His note proves he’s not illiterate.”
Did you notice that the letter he “wrote” was printed instead of written. Look closely at the grammatical errors. The only thing he “wrote” was his name, and even that is hard to make out. I really feel sorry for this guy. He was taken advantage of by a lot of people in his life because of his looks and endowment. His size alone will win the respect of the other inmates and I bet that is why he is in lockdown. He can’t win for losing. The other HIV inmates are on his side I’m sure but the ones who hate gays and aren’t used to a gay man who CAN floor them with one punch I bet will be the very ones who will do all they can to keep him isolated.
Bob LaBlah
@SnakeyJ: “His note proves he’s not illiterate.”
The grammatical errors in his letter proves he is no rocket scientist. He didnt write a letter. He printed a letter. The only thing signed is his name, and even that is not easy to decipher. My heart goes out to this guy. He was what he was and I leave it at that. A lot of inmates are afraid of him I’m sure but sex is not why they fear him. They know he can floor their smart mouthed asses with one punch. The number of reason they might have to keep him isolated are too numerous to list.
Godabed
For those of us who followed the trial and the details of it. 30 years was wayyy too much. Those who practice unsafe sex know that they are at higher risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases/infections, that certainly includes HIV. And the persons who barebacked with this guy knew the risk, stated they had barebacked before. So this was certainly within the realm of their control to avoid possibly getting HIV. Glad he is getting his health in order hopefully he has educated himself about the virus.
Should he have been punished… yes, certainly but not this harshly, and certainly not 30 years. The educational system failed him and a lot of other young people who unwittingly practice unsafe sex and are now HIV+. I talked to a friend who’s in college never been tested at all because of his conservative community and found out through a third party he gave them an sti. I swear there should a license to be sexual active with other people.
Me2
Even though I don’t necessarily think he deserves 30 years, I’m having a hard time sympathizing with him. You don’t have to be a scholar in order to be honest and give a care about someone else’s life. What he did was reckless and extremely selfish, to say the least. He had an opportunity and an obligation to be honest but chose not to. In my opinion, he’s not a victim, he’s a predator.
money718
Wow. Even his paragraph structure is what we learned in elementary school. This is sad.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
“a jury pool stacked with white, HIV negative heterosexuals who thought being gay was a sin, ”
Imagine thinking that whites think one way or all blacks think another way
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
#FreeTheHawtOnes
Dave Downunder
He may be practically illiterate but it doesn’t take a genius to know that if you are diagnosed HIV+ you will infect others if you don’t use a condom. Unless the man has developmental issues he should have been able to grasp that simple notion.
That said it does take two to tango so the blame can’t be all his. After all what idiot takes someones word on it regarding their HIV status. I also think the sentence was very harsh.
Dave Downunder
I’d also like to add that he is pretty damn hot. He could have ended up another ex con with a modelling contract if his sentence wasn’t so long.
ErikO
@Me2: Well said, people who are HIV+ but lie about it or who do not tell sexual partners are predators.
@PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID: Yeah the race baiting and simplistic thinking is annoying. I know people who are HIV+, and who are black and gay who believe that people who are HIV+ who do not tell their sexual partners and have unsafe sex with them are predators.
MaxH
Even a potato can grasp the concept of HIV and transmission.
mdbuck67
I have ZERO sympathy for this dirtbag. He knew damn well what he was doing.
Mo Bro
The gist of this article seems to be that people who are hetero, white, and HIV- cannot also be impartial jurors, which is as patently ridiculous as claiming a gay, black, HIV+ individual cannot be.
But that’s just me.
DMRX
@Bob LaBlah: You obviously don’t know the definition of “illiterate.”
Printing standard letters or writing in cursive has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with it.
DMRX
@Dave Downunder: Well said
SnakeyJ
@Bob LaBlah: I agree the letter demonstrates he’s not a highly functioning writer, but he clearly understands words. Even at his level of writing, there is no evidence of illiteracy so bad that he can’t understand a doctors orders. If, in his own words, he can read magazines, he can read pamphlets on HIV transmission which i’m SURE his doctor gave him. The punishment is a little too severe, i think, but he’s not a victim.
Phourtitude
There is striking lack of compassion in these comments that disturbs. Yes, he can be barely literate and a college athlete, as if that’s even controversial these days. Reading the note, it certainly seems that he is lacking severely and was ushered through the education system into college based on athletic ability. As far as his knowledge of HIV and transmission of the same, I have personally scene how medical care and information about HIV in small town rural areas can be non-existent and unethically ignorant.
My position is not to exonerate this young man for whatever part he played in this matter. (it was his word against the other man) It is not good policy to criminalize positive status. This is not an incentive for people to get tested and know there status and get into care and stay undetectable. Not to mention, personal responsibility is a more efficient prophylactic. This guy he infected must accept he flirted with danger by deciding to engage in risky behavior and I am sorry for him. This is tragedy on all fronts but the way forward as a community is compassion and more education not criminalization and further stigmatizing. FOr those who choose to engage in risk behavior, prep is real and its effective. Please consider strongly.
Sluggo2007
I don’t feel sorry for him at all. I hope he rots in prison or gets murdered. Look at all the lives he’s destroyed. They want everyone to believe he was naive about it? Bullshit!
Heywood Jablowme
1) He didn’t infect anyone! There’s absolutely no evidence that anyone he had sex got HIV from him.
2) “Barely literate”? That’s his “friends and relatives” saying that? His letter looks at least borderline literate.
Stache
@Heywood Jablowme: I agree. His so called victim has already professed to engaging in bareback sex with others. That should automatically destroy this case.
It reminds me of one of my irresponsible friends. He accuses one person in particular of raping and giving him HIV. However, he’s the biggest barebacking slut you’ll ever meet. Like how would you ever be able to pin point that? Lol
Stache
@Phourtitude:The ones that want to see extreme punishment are doing themselves and society a disfavor. Why get tested at all if what you see is people getting sent to prison and sometimes just based on blackmail. At the very least you’re creating the exact opposite of what your screaming about. Don’t ask..don’t tell is the atmosphere now.
It’s the same as spilling coffee on myself and suing McDonalds. Dumbass it’s HOT coffee. The danger should be common sense for most.
All this does is create a society of fear where people
Kangol
@MaxH: It might seem that way, but you’d be surprised. MANY people, especially young people, still do not grasp how HIV transmission and seroconversion function. All the emphasis these days on raw sex doesn’t help, though thankfully with PrEP there are more options. But I’m telling you, there are people who’re 50-60 years old who still–STILL–do not grasp how raw anal sex or even oral sex can lead to HIV transmission (along with transmission of other STDs).
Bob LaBlah
Fuck you too Queerty. Hopefully that will post.
Heywood Jablowme
@Kangol: You’re right about “all the emphasis these days on raw [anal] sex” being a big problem. But the risk of HIV transmission via oral sex is infinitesimal to the point of being almost non-existent. This may be counter-intuitive, but even if someone’s gums are bad they bleed outward – i.e. the “wrong” way for transmission. While in anal sex without a condom, bleeding unfortunately goes in the “right” direction for transmission.
(Of course, as you say, other STDs can happen with oral sex.)
Personally I’m convinced that all guys who piously claim they got HIV via oral sex alone, are neurotic types who for some reason don’t want to admit they’ve ever been f*cked. I’m not impressed and I don’t believe them!
surreal33
Mr Johnson, I hope you live a long life filled with loneliness, pain, suffering and misery. You deserve worse than what you are getting. You are vile scum and I hope you are kept in solitary confinement FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
surreal33
Correction the answer is NOT take PREP and have unprotected sex!!! Unprotected sex is not necessary to sustain life. The narrative that gay men cannot get thru life without endless, mindless, unprotected sex encounters is insane!!! ORAQUICK is low cost, private, home HIV test so you and your partner will know each others health status. ORAQUICK AND CONDOMS fuck till your heart is content. Oh you want random sex? Try MATELY APP which users are prescreened for STD’S because people lie test result do not. CHANGE THE NARRATIVE.
vobarraza
I am totally astonished at the total lack of compassion exhibited by some of the commenters on this thread. This guys deserves punishment perhaps but 30 years makes no sense at all. We give the government way too much power. But for the grace of God
drelocks15
@Phourtitude: I wonder if there would be such a lack of compassion if he looked like one of those doppelgangers from Sean Cody?
Heywood Jablowme
@vobarraza: And the crazy HIV laws are all over the place. There’s rarely any concern (or even interest) in whether anyone was actually infected or not. In some states it’s illegal for two HIV+ people married to each other to have sex at all.
Stache
@drelocks15: It’s deeper then just race. This guy was white and got the same sentence and same online response here even though they used protection and no one was hurt. The same people were saying he deserved it.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/02/health/criminalizing-hiv/
David Bolton
Don’t feel sorry for him at all. He knew what he was doing.
gentdesign
Ugh… Another negative story about some black guy. Find an exemplary black gay black guy and post a positive story.
I just happen to come across this today and I’m sickened by it. Trial or not, it’s just yet another negative portrayal of black guys.
I’m just saying.
Shame on you Queerty – Just another media outlet with nothing positive to say about black guys.
o.codone
@jimontp: Dude, thank you for all that information
. I am now encouraged. Time to hit the pub and get laid. (not joking).
o.codone
@Heywood Jablowme: Yes, I’d love to. Please cum in my mouth so I can swallow it all. Great name dude.
Masc Pride
Good God, this guy is oversexed. Sounds like he can’t wait to get in gen pop so he can work on infecting “pretty” inmates. Proof positive (no pun intended) that he’d be up to his old antics if let out to live among the civilized. He’s where he belongs.
MinnesotaNotNice
Too fucking bad for this asshole! He knew he was infected, he infected others and didn’t give a damn about any consequences. 30 years isn’t long enough of a sentence when you consider the lives he changed for the worse, in terms of healthy and negative persons who are now HIV+ and having to adapt to new realities for dealing with their health. I hope to be reading a story in which this guy is found murdered by a fellow inmate. That would be justice.
Mkiel
@jimontp: Very well said I’m sick of hearing mis-information about HIV & worse gays condemning HIV+ poeple. A lot of self righteous idiots spouting rubbish.
seaguy
@jimontp: Thank You for responding to ErikO’s completely inaccurate post, that probably does more harm than anything because he perpetuates the lies and stigma against HIV+ gay men, which leads many to fear disclosing their status. I will take your facts over Eriko’s lies and scare tactics any day.
ErikO
@seaguy: He’s talking out of his ass. PreP is not a gaurentee that you will stay HIV neg, and if someone’s barebacking with lots of random people as the PrePPers are into doing they’re going to get infected with other STDs. I guess you, stache, and jimontp all want Hepatitis A, B, C, herpes, HPV, syphilis, and all the rest of the STDs you can get, or maybe you all already have them and spread them among whoever is unfortunate enough to have sex with you?