Ex-NFL star jailed for 18 years over rape
Ex-NFL champion Darren Sharper has been sentenced to 18 years jail after raping and drugging as many as 16 women in the US. (Getty)
Former NFL star Darren Sharper has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for drugging and raping as many as 16 women in four US states.
Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced Sharper in New Orleans yesterday after he pleaded guilty to charges arising from allegations in Louisiana, Arizona, California and Nevada.
Prosecutors suggested a nine-year prison term for Sharper under a multi-jurisdictional plea deal, but Justice Milazzo rejected it as too lenient in June.
The sentence was 15 months short of the maximum. He was also fined $US20,000.
Sharper was named an All-Pro six times and chosen for the Pro Bowl five times during a career that included stints with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.
He played in two Super Bowls, one with the Packers as a rookie and one with New Orleans Saints when they won in 2010.
He ended a 14-year career in 2011.
Sharper was working as an NFL network analyst when women began telling police in several cities similar stories of blacking out while drinking with him and waking up groggy to find they had been sexually abused.
With AAP
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
