Former NFL player Darren Sharper sits in a Los Angeles courtroom during a bail hearing on March 24, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Wally Skalij-Pool/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Former NFL star and William and Mary player Darren Sharper was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison for rape charges, according to WGNO.
Sharper pleaded guilty in 2015 to one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted sexual assault.
Sharper went to jail in Los Angeles in 2014, but the case was in Arizona. Sharper and his attorney had a telephone meeting with Judge Warren Granville in 2015, where the former player and television analyst changed his plea.
Sharper, a five-time Pro Bowl player, originally faced five counts of drugging and raping three women in Scottsdale, Arizona, in November 2013.
Before being indicted in Arizona, Sharper was arrested in California on charges of drugging and raping two women in that state.
He was also under investigation in other states. Florida prosecutors announced last year they would not prosecute Sharper on similar allegations, but he faces federal charges in Louisiana.
Sharper played for the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints from 1997 through the 2010 season. The five-time Pro Bowl player intercepted 63 passes in his career, tying for seventh all-time. He is tied for second all-time in interceptions returned for touchdowns with 11, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.
He later worked as an analyst for NFL Network.
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