Darren Sharper To Serve 9-Year Jail Sentence

Former New Orleans safety Darren Sharper will serve a nine-year jail sentence as part of an agreement to resolve nine rape charges against him in California, Nevada, Louisiana and Arizona.

Darren Sharper is going to serve a nine-year prison sentence. 

According to USA Today Sports’ Brent Schrotenboer, the former New Orleans Saints safety will spend that much time in jail “as part of an agreement to resolve all nine rape charges against him in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Tempe, Ariz.”

This nine-year sentence is part of the global agreement his attorneys negotiated for, per Schrotenboer. Sharper will receive credit for time served in Los Angeles, where he has been incarcerated since Feb. 27, 2014.

Even though the agreement includes a 20-year sentence in California, Sharper’s attorney, Blair Berk, told Schrotenboer his client will serve “a little less than nine years of actual custody time” because of the credit for time served and certain stipulations of the law.

Schrotenboer also reported on Monday that Sharper pleaded no contest to six counts in Los Angeles. These include charges of drugging and raping two women in Oct. 2013 and Jan. 2014.

Darren Sharper sentenced to 9 years in jail after guilty plea to sexual assault in Arizona
http://t.co/nnWxuBIJNJ pic.twitter.com/74FJL9YGBT— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 23, 2015

Sharper also pleaded guilty to sexual assault and attempted sexual assault in Arizona which resulted in him getting a nine-year jail sentence in that state, per USA Today.

He is also slapped with two rape charges in Las Vegas and three in New Orleans. Schrotenboer says Sharper will eventually enter guilty pleas in those states within the next few weeks. He will serve all of the sentences concurrently, resulting in the actual nine-year sentence.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune’s Andy Grimm says the state of Nevada has sentenced Sharper to an eight-year jail term in a plea deal. As for Louisiana, Sharper has pleaded guilty in exchange for a 20-year sentence.

Grimm adds Sharper will return to New Orleans next month “to face federal drug and rape charges.” District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro says he expects Sharper to turn in his guilty plea within the next 30 days.

Grimm goes into more detail regarding Sharper’s case in Louisiana:

“The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Sharper will plead guilty in New Orleans to two counts of forcible rape and one count of simple rape. Sharper had been charged with two counts of aggravated rape and one count of simple rape in connection with encounters with three women in New Orleans in 2013. The aggravated rape charges carried a mandatory life sentence.”

Rape charges have been filed in Las Vegas vs. Darren Sharper, who also faces sexual assault charges in 3 other cities
http://t.co/JmE9axq8MQ— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) March 20, 2015

Sharper must return to Los Angeles court for formal sentencing, although this is expected not to happen in the next several months as he will undergo trial in Louisiana. Sharper’s agreement to a plea deal prevents harsher punishment and expensive litigation in the future. If he is convicted, he could face a life sentence in Louisiana and more than 30 years in Los Angeles, per Schrotenboer.

The plea deal also makes life easier for prosecutors as it prevents a trial where juries /4/be influenced by Sharper’s status, per USA Today. 

Schrotenboer notes Sharper’s serial rapes ended Jan. 2014 “when he was arrested on suspicion of rape in Los Angeles.” At that time, police discovered he had 20 zolpidem pills, a slep drug also known as Ambien. 

A worker’s compensation claim Sharper filed three years ago reveals he secured a prescription for the sleep drug because of his insomnia issues during his 14-year NFL career, per USA Today. 

The 39-year-old Sharper amassed 943 tackles, 7.5 sacks, nine forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries and 63 interceptions in 205 career regular-season games for the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints from 1997-2010, per ESPN stats. 

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