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Super Bowl winner Darren Sharper sentenced to nine years in prison Super Bowl winner Darren Sharper sentenced to nine years in prison
(about 2 hours later)
The former NFL star Darren Sharper pleaded no contest Monday in Los Angeles to charges of drugging and raping two women in the second of similar criminal cases in four states. The former NFL star Darren Sharper removed all doubt on Monday that he drugged and raped women, taking the first of several legal steps to own up to sex assaults in four states that will send him to federal prison for nine years.
Earlier, he pleaded guilty by video link to sexual assault in Arizona and was sentenced to nine years in federal prison. In the Los Angeles case he will have to serve 50% of a 20-year sentence and with credit for time served it will come down to about nine years, his attorney said. The sentences will be served concurrently in federal prison under the agreement. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault in Arizona and no contest in California to raping two women he knocked out with a potent sedative mixed with alcohol.
In the Arizona case, Sharper admitted sexually assaulting one woman and trying to attack another in suburban Phoenix in 2013. It is very unusual to sentence defendants immediately after a guilty plea, which normally can take weeks or months. Sharper, 39, wearing a striped, light blue suit, said he was entering the plea because it was in his best interest. He had faced up to 33 years in prison if convicted of all counts against him in California.
Sharper appeared in a Phoenix courtroom by video-conferencing from Los Angeles, where he has been jailed since February 2014 after initially pleading not guilty to drugging and raping two women there in 2013. By not contesting the charges, the former all-pro safety who won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints, admitted he raped two women he drugged after meeting them at a West Hollywood bar in 2013 and 2014. The no contest plea has the same effect as a conviction. The women were not in court, but prosecutors said they had agreed to the plea deal.
Similar hearings will follow in Las Vegas this week and in New Orleans in the next month. In each state, he’s accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women when they were unconscious or otherwise unable to resist or consent. Earlier, Sharper appeared in a Phoenix courtroom by video-conferencing from Los Angeles, where he has been jailed since February 2014. He admitted sexually assaulting one woman and trying to attack another in suburban Phoenix in 2013.
Sharper’s attorney announced on Friday that the former player reached plea agreements with prosecutors in all the cases against him. Under the deal negotiated by his lawyers and state and federal prosecutors, Sharper will serve a nine-year federal prison term for similar crimes in Louisiana, Nevada, Arizona and California.
The 39-year-old retired from the NFL in 2011 after winning a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints. He had a 14-year career with three teams and later worked as an analyst for the NFL network. The alleged sexual assaults all happened since Sharper’s retirement as a player. Hearings will follow in Las Vegas on Tuesday and in New Orleans in the next month. In each state, he’s accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women when they were unconscious or otherwise unable to resist or consent. He was sentenced immediately in the Arizona case, which is very unusual. Sentencing in California was scheduled for 15 July.
In Arizona, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Warren Granville said that Sharper will serve his time in federal custody and that the Louisiana case will be resolved through a federal court. Sharper retired from the NFL in 2011 after a 14-year career with three teams and later worked as an analyst for the NFL network. All the alleged sexual assaults happened after Sharper’s retirement as a player.
Sharper admitted sexually assaulting one victim and trying to assault another in Arizona, though police say he drugged three women and sexually assaulted two of them at an apartment in Tempe in November 2013. Sharper admitted sexually assaulting one victim and trying to assault another in Arizona, though police said he drugged three women and sexually assaulted two of them at a Tempe apartment in November 2013.
Prosecutor Yigael Cohen on Monday cited a letter in which one of the victims says she suffered emotional harm as a result of the attack and that she didn’t have the ability to resist.Prosecutor Yigael Cohen on Monday cited a letter in which one of the victims says she suffered emotional harm as a result of the attack and that she didn’t have the ability to resist.
Authorities say a search of the Tempe apartment turned up a shot glass with a white residue that turned out to be the sedative zolpidem, and California investigators discovered that Sharper had a prescription for the drug. Sharper’s attorneys said last year that their client did not make the drinks that authorities say he used to drug the women. A search of the Tempe apartment turned up a shot glass with a white residue that turned out to be the sedative zolpidem, and California investigators discovered that Sharper had a prescription for the drug. In the California case, he pleaded no contest to four counts of furnishing zolpidem, which is a controlled substance. Sharper’s attorneys said last year that their client did not make the drinks authorities say he used to drug the women.
One of the women told police she had not had any alcohol that night until Sharper insisted she drink a shot. Another young woman said she had been drugged, then went to bed, locked her door and was not attacked.One of the women told police she had not had any alcohol that night until Sharper insisted she drink a shot. Another young woman said she had been drugged, then went to bed, locked her door and was not attacked.
The next day, one of the women confronted Sharper, who denied wrongdoing, according to police reports. The reports said Sharper was in Arizona to visit a woman who lived at the apartment. The two had met about a year earlier in Las Vegas. The next day, one of the women confronted Sharper, who denied wrongdoing, according to police reports.
Prosecutors in Nevada, where Sharper is scheduled to change his plea Tuesday, said the former player is expected to plead guilty to one felony charge of attempted sexual assault, with the expectation that he will face between 38 months and eight years in prison. Sharper is expected to plead guilty to one felony charge of attempted sexual assault in Nevada, with the expectation that he will face up to eight years in prison.