Summary: Former NFL star Darren Sharper pleaded guilty two drugging and raping women in two cases.
Former NFL star Darren Sharper, who retired from NFL in 2011 after a successful 14-year career, has pleaded no contest Monday to drugging and raping two women in Los Angeles. He admitted guilt to this after confessing to similar charges in Arizona. This is part of a plea deal he says he is taking for his best interest, covering sexual assaults in four states. He will end up in federal prison for nine years. The alternative included 33 years in prison if convicted of all the counts against him in California.
The 39-year-old former all-pro safety, who helped the New Orleans Saints win a superbowl, said in Los Angeles Superior Court that he was guilty of sexual assault. This confession was relayed by video to a court in Arizona. In the Arizona case he was sentenced immediately, whereas the charges in California will be sentenced July 15.
Prosecutor Yigael Cohen claimed on Monday that Sharper offered drinks laced with zolpidem, a controlled substance that Sharper has a prescription for, using this as a sedative to make his victims unconscious, after which he would rape them. Indeed, a search of the Tempe apartment where two victims claimed to be drugged in 2013 showed up a shot glass with zolpidem residue on it. Sharper’s attorneys last year denied Sharper had provided such drinks.
Going forward, Sharper is expected to plead guilty to a felony charge of attempted sexual assault in Nevada, with a charge of up to 8 years in prison.
The sexual assaults are believed to have all happened after he retired in 2011. He also worked as an analyst for the NFL network after his retirement. These crimes are believed to have happened in Louisiana, Nevada, Arizona, and California.
News Source: ESPN