Darren Sharper a former safety for the New Orleans Saints was sentenced to 18 years in prison for drugging and raping more than 16 woman in four states.
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Milazzo gave Sharper close to the the maximum 19½-year sentence she could have imposed.
According to a 15-page statement signed as part of the plea, Sharper pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of distributing drugs with rape as the aim.
Both former National Football League star Darren Sharper and a woman he admitted drugging and raping both made emotional statements before Sharper was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison. Sharper said he had lived “right” for 38 years – before he “took this path”. Milazzo rejected the nine-year sentence in February.
“Darren Sharper is now a convicted rapist and sexual predator who used drugs in order to rape his victims”.
Two co-defendants, including a former St. Bernard Sheriff’s deputy, also have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges in New Orleans’ state and federal courthouses.
Former NFL safety Darren Sharper (C) appears in court with his lawyers Lisa Wayne (L) and Leonard Levine at Los Angeles Superior Court March 23, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.
“I would like to apologize a thousand times”, Sharper said Thursday in a New Orleans courtroom, according to The Associated Press.
Sharper was wearing orange prison garb, and his hands and feet were shackled when he arrived Thursday morning.
The higher sentence fell within the range of 15 to 19 years that a federal probation report recommended, based in part on the sheer number of victims. They are still awaiting sentencing. He was also fined $US20,000 ($26,000).
Like Sharper, Licciardi and Nunez admitted distributing drugs with the intent to commit rape. In addition to his prison sentence, he faces three years of supervised release.
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He played in the Super Bowl in 2010 for the winning Saints, as well as an earlier Super Bowl appearance for the Packers. His two co-defendants, Brandon Licciardi and Erik Nunez, are scheduled to be sentenced on October 13.
