NEW ORLEANS -- Former NFL star and New Orleans Saint Darren Sharper was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison following his guilty pleas to drugging and raping three women in New Orleans, part of a global plea deal in which Sharper confessed to sexually assaulting 16 women in four states.
Following tearful and angry testimony from two of Sharper’s victims, New Orleans Criminal Court Judge Karen Herman sentenced Sharper in two forcible rapes and one simple rape, stating, “I find this sentence to be woefully inadequate. Had you been convicted by a jury of your peers, you would not be getting the sentence you are getting.”
Herman noted that she gave the sentence as part of the plea bargain involving four state jurisdictions and the 18-year sentence Sharper received last week in federal court.
The two victims who testified Thursday said they continue to suffer from depression, isolation, fear and insomnia since the drug-induced rapes.
One of the victims told Sharper from the witness stand, “You’re a sick individual.”
The victim completed her statement with, “I have to express forgiveness before moving on. So I want to say I forgive you. Hopefully God uses this dreadful experience to protect all women who may meet someone like you.”
Last week, U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced Sharper to 18 years, a sharply increased punishment that came six months after she rejected an earlier agreement that would have seen the former Saints safety serve nine years behind bars in addition to the year he had already served awaiting trial.
The 20-year state sentence runs concurrent with the federal sentence and grants Sharper credit for time he has served since being locked up without bail in February 2015.
Sharper was previously sentenced to nine years sentence in Arizona, which will run simultaneously with the other sentences. He awaits formal sentencing in California and Nevada.
Previously in federal court, Sharper’s two co-defendants were sentenced in connection with the New Orleans rapes. Former St. Bernard sheriff’s deputy Brandon Licciardi received 17 years, while ex-waiter Erik Nunez got 10 years. Licciardi and Nunez still await final sentencing in state court, but like Sharper, they are expected to receive punishment that matches their federal prison time.
Sharper, 41, appeared in court in an orange prison jump suit, secured by handcuffs and shackles. His next step is a transfer to a federal penitentiary.
