CONCORD, N.H. -- A former medical technician at Exeter Hospital accused of spreading hepatitis C to dozens of patients nationwide plead not guilty Monday in federal court and was given a trial date of early February.

David M. Kwiatkowski, appearing stocky in a tan prison uniform and displaying a trim haircut and goatee, was indicted last week in an elaborate scheme to steal powerful painkillers, causing patients to become infected with his strain of the liver-damaging virus. Prosecutors say he grabbed syringes loaded with the painkiller Fentanyl, and, in an effort to avoid detection, replaced them with syringes that he had previously used. The substitute syringes, refilled with saline solution and tainted with hepatitis C, were used on patients by unknowing Exeter Hospital clinicians.