Darren Sharper, who played 14 National Football League seasons for three teams, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in a case where he was accused of drugging and raping as many as 16 women in four states, the Associated Press reports. Judge Milazzo then handed Sharper the 18-year sentence on Thursday morning, which is 15 months less than the maximum sentence Sharper could have received.
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Former NFL star Darren Sharper was sentenced Thursday to more than 18 years in prison for drugging women in order to rape them – double the sentence recommended by prosecutors.
Last year, Sharper appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom and pleaded no-contest to charges of raping two women in L.A. that he had allegedly knocked out with the powerful sleeping aid, Zolpidem, known by its brand name, Ambien. Sharper was also sentenced to three years of supervised release after his prison sentence and fined $20,000.
During his August 17 court appearance, Darren said he apologized to the victims “1,000 times”, according to the New Orleans Advocate.
One of Sharp’s victims – the only one to speak at his sentencing hearing – rebuffed his display of contrition. Their federal plea agreements say Licciardi has accepted a 17-year sentence, with 10 years for Nunez.
Sharper, 40, previously struck a plea deal with prosecutors under which he would’ve served only nine years, but Milazzo deemed that too lenient.
The woman said Sharper was so arrogant and “twisted” that he kept drugging and raping women even after he knew the attack on her was being investigated.
Sharper flipped on the two others involved in the horrific acts, but he never had the chance to take the stand, as both plead guilty to the charges and therefore he likely never had a chance to lower his sentence.
Nunez and Licciardi are tentatively scheduled to be sentenced in state court in October 20.
Milazzo found that sentence to be “inappropriate”, and Sharper agreed to leave his fate in the judge’s hands rather than risk having his later admissions to investigators used against him at a trial.
Licciardi and Nunez also admitted distributing drugs with the intent to commit rape.
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He ended a 14-year career in 2011.
