Former NFL player Darren Sharper has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for drugging and raping as many as 16 women in four states. He had pleaded guilty or no-contest to all of the charges filed against him in federal court in New Orleans and in state courts in Louisiana, Arizona, California, and Nevada, and originally, prosecutors had asked for him to be sentenced to nine years for his crimes. But the federal judge in his case, Judge Jane Triche Milazzo, rejected that suggestion during a hearing back in June and asked for a longer sentence. 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. She also handed him a $20,000 fine.
Sharper and his friend Brandon Licciardi admitted to putting anti-anxiety drugs or sedatives into women’s drinks so that they could rape them, according to a statement that was submitted by Sharper’s lawyers as part of his plea deal. Nine victims came forward in Sharper’s case, but Judge Milazzo revealed that the total number of victims could be as high as 16. Licciardi accepted a 17-year prison sentence as part of a plea deal, while another codefendant in the case, Erik Nunez, accepted a 10-year sentence.
Sharper delivered a brief statement in court on Thursday, according to New Orleans Advocate reporter Ramon Antonio Vargas:
One of his victims did as well, and she ended it by telling Sharper to "go to hell":
