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A federal judge sentenced a former Exeter Hospital employee to 39 years in prison for spreading hepatitis C in more than 45 patients in three states. This is one of the most egregious cases of misconduct by a medical technician.

The travelling medical technician stole painkillers and used tainted syringes.

The accused medical technician, David Kwiatkowski, 34 was a cardiac technologist in 18 hospitals in seven states.

“I don’t blame the families for hating me,” David Kwiatkowski said after hearings, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. “I hate myself.”

Previously he has been fired around four times over allegations of drug theft. In spite of that he kept switching between his jobs.

“There’s no excuse for what I’ve done,” he said. “I know the pain and suffering I have caused.”

Prosecutors requested for a 40-year sentence to Kwiatkowski but judge Joseph Laplante cut one year as a reminder that some people have the capacity for mercy and compassion.

“It’s important for you to recognize and remember as you spend the next 39 years in prison to focus on the one year you didn’t get and try to develop that capacity in yourself,” said Laplante, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

The anger was evident among the inflicted ones. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that can cause liver disease as well as chronic health disease.

“You may only be facing drug charges, but make no mistake, you are a serial killer,” said Kathleen Murray of Elmira, N.Y. Her mother was infected in Baltimore and was unable to travel because of illness.

“On one hand, you were saving my life, and on the other hand, your acts are a death sentence for me,” Ficken, of Andover, Kan., told Kwiatkowski according to Bloomberg Businessweek. “Do I thank you for what you did to help me? Do I despise you for what your actions did and will continue to do for the rest of my life? Or do I simply just feel sorry for you being the pathetic individual you are?”