Man gets 10 years for exposing person to HIV

Laderrick Rencher

By Monica Land

JACKSON  – A Meridian man has been sentenced for deliberately exposing someone to the HIV virus while he was a patient in the hospital. Judge Lester Williamson sentenced Laderrick Rencher, 37, to serve 10 years — the maximum sentence allowed for one count of knowingly exposing another person to HIV.

“Judge Williamson threw the book at this guy, who took advantage of a vulnerable person,” said Attorney General Jim Hood.

Laderrick Rencher

Williamson sentenced Rencher to the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC).  He was also ordered to pay $630 in fines.

The crime was committed on Jan. 25, 2012, when the victim and Rencher were both patients at Alliance Health Center in Meridian.

Rencher pleaded guilty to the charge on May 20, and was released on bond pending sentencing.

On May 21, he was picked up on a strong armed robbery charge and has remained in custody since that time. Meridian police said Rencher allegedly held up a Cefco/Shell Station on Highway 39 around 2 a.m. while wearing a dress.

Surveillance video showed a cross-dressing Rencher in the store where he allegedly assaulted the clerk and stole merchandise from the store. Information from the public led to his arrest after that video was released to the media.

Rencher has had additional run-ins with police including the sexual battery of a mentally defective person.

He was initially held without bond on that charge.