Serial Rapist Darren Sharper Sentenced To 18 Years In Prison

Serial rapist and former NFL star Darren Sharper was sentenced today to 18 years in prison for raping, drugging, and/or attempting to rape 16 women in four different states. Sharper was sentenced in federal court by Judge Jane Triche Milazzo, who previously rejected a global plea deal that would have given him only a nine-year sentence. The former NFL safety was accused of assaulting women in Louisiana, Nevada, Arizona, and California—where he was arrested in January 2014. Sharper pleaded guilty or no contest to the charges against him as part of the global deal offered by federal prosecutors. Sharper has two co-defendants, former sheriff Brandon Licciardi and Erik Nunez, who have also entered guilty pleas for their raping and drugging some of Sharper’s victims. They are still awaiting sentencing.

In court today, Sharper said he “still [doesn’t] know why I lived my life right for 38 years, and then I took this path,” according to the New Orleans Advocate:

Sharper, in an orange prisoner’s jumpsuit, on Thursday said he apologized to his victims “1,000 times.”

“They didn’t deserve anything being a part of my heinous decisions,” he said sobbing.

During a victim impact statement, one of Sharper’s victims reportedly told him to “go to hell.”