An HIV-positive Frisco, Texas, man who was arrested two years ago for transmitting HIV to at least six female sexual partners was handed five 45-year prison sentences and one 25-year sentence after being found guilty of six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, The Dallas Morning News reports. The sentences, issued on Friday, May 29, will run concurrently.

According to the article, Philippe Padieu, a 53-year-old martial arts instructor, will not be eligible for parole for 22 and a half years.

Padieu’s attorney, Bennie House, called the sentence “better than life [in prison].” But House contended that his client should not have been prosecuted in the first place because Texas does not have an HIV law criminalizing the intentional transmission of the virus.

Furthermore, House argued, prosecuting Padieu for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon “absolutely opens the door for any [sexually transmitted infection] prosecution” or for other diseases such as swine flu.