Darren Sharper pleads guilty to sexual assault in Arizona

Posted by nickmensio on March 23, 2015, 1:08 PM EDT
AP

Former NFL safety Darren Sharper pleaded guilty to sexual assault and attempted sexual assault in Arizona on Monday.

The 39-year-old has been sentenced to nine years in prison and lifetime probation. The penalty actually seems on the light side, but Sharper will face plenty more years behind bars, considering Arizona isn’t the only state Sharper has allegedly drugged and raped women. He’s also facing charges in Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Las Vegas and has been jailed in L.A. since February 2014.

The five-time Pro Bowler is expected to plead guilty to all of his charges across the four states. Hearings in Las Vegas and New Orleans are tentatively scheduled for later this week and next month, respectively.

In the New Orleans case, Sharper faces life behind bars without the possibility of parole.

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46 responses to “Darren Sharper pleads guilty to sexual assault in Arizona”

  1. Wow. What an amazing turn of events with this guy. It’s like he was just in the NFL. It’s like he wast just an analyst for NFL Network.

  6. While I applaud Mr. Sharper for finding a hobby in his post-football life, something most retired players struggle to do, he probably should’ve picked a, let’s say, more legal, moral, and ethical hobby.

    Also, if you ever saw him as an analyst on the NFL Network, he should’ve gone to prison for that alone. Horrible.

  8. If he gets 9-10 years at each jurisdiction and ends up staying behind bars for 30-40 years total, I think that would be good. Based on what he did, he should get much more, but at least he looks to be getting something substantial.

  10. The fact that he’s pleading guilty means they must have some very solid evidence against him.

    Geez. What a way to screw up a charmed life.

  11. It doesn’t matter how many more states he faces charges in. is lawyer has already announced the “global” nature of the pleas. His sentences will run concurrent to each other. Since Vegas has already sentenced him to a max of eight years, and this sentence is for nine years, it’s safe to assume that the other two states will be in the eight to ten range. That’s not accounting for the year he has already served, which counts towards his sentence. VERY light.

  12. wonder what amber theoharis/all of the nfl network women think of this guy since they worked with him…
    wonder if they will even cover this story.

  15. BYW the prosecutors in each of these jurisdictions have spoken to each other, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the sentences are somewhat similar, perhaps a little more in Louisiana.

    All to say, Mr. Sharper, that you’ve seen the last of your life outside of prison walls.

  16. Wow, from riches to black and white, i am plenty positive that a bunch of players were in on what Sharper was doing, these guys talk and share their sick proclivities.

  17. So they intercepted the man once known for a segment called “Pick Magnet.”

    Also, I wonder if this news will make the NFL Network scroll. It’ll be embarrassing, but someone call them out on it if they don’t.

  18. I just don’t get it. How does someone screw up a fantastic life like his so badly?

  19. If his sentences run concurrently, he’s going to get out in a few years. And to think, OJ got 33 years for stealing his own stuff back. Crazy.

  20. If this is concurrent with any of his other sentences then this is a slap in the face to any of the victims.

  21. Not only are the taxpayers footing the bill for so many years but when he gets out of all the prisons, he’ll be collecting Social Security.

    We have too many evil individuals in prison. It is far cheaper to reduce the prison population with capital punishment.

  22. I simply do not get this. I mean, he was a multi-millionaire ex-NFL player with a gig on the NFL Network! He still looked like he was in playing shape!

    Meanwhile, I am married, upper-middle class with a gut- living in Atlanta. And I have to watch where I go because of women on the prowl. (Atlanta has 80,000 more single women than single men, so it’s an issue.)

  24. Let justice be served for all the harm he inflicted. I hope he never sees the light of day and he is made to serve out his sentence at “The Farm” Angola State Prison. He’ll soon find out life was far better on the outside.

  25. If Louisiana gives him life, he can do his 9 years concurrently for AZ all he wants. What it might affect is which hoosegow he ends up in…my bet would be the state that gives him the longest sentence.

  26. I find it refreshing that he actually plead guilty to spare his victims from having to testify. He actually owned up to it! I think that is also driving the light sentence. Don’t worry, pedophiles and rapists are the least liked in prison, so he will be doing “hard” time, if you know what I mean!

  29. Wow” A five-time pro bowler, and a lot going for him that’s too bad, he definitely has mental issues that maybe should have been addressed.

  30. Wow, definitely would have been a Hall of Famer with his stats before this. He can kiss the hall of fame and his life goodbye. So long #42

  33. He wouldn’t have pleaded guilty if LA was going to give him life in prison without chance of parole. I’m betting 9 years concurrent, no parole. Probably will be informing on others complicit.

  34. nyyjetsknicks says:
    Mar 23, 2015 1:18 PM
    Someone should have told him that being a multi millionaire professional athlete makes it pretty easy to get girls.

    Rape isn’t about sex – it’s about control and power over another individual. I can’t think of a more perfect example than Sharper. Rich, famous, good looking. He had a million avenues to sex if that is what he wanted.

  35. Sure doesn’t seem like the end of this story. Roger might be going on vacation / hiding, again soon.

    While the game has become a huge part of American ritual and culture, the light that keeps been spotlighted onto the behind the scenes is becoming rather disturbing. Long term medical issues, the league strong arming taxpayers,state’s,cities, the league abusing tax loopholes, brain damage, history of alcohol abuse, domestic violence abuse, drug abuse, now a potential multiple state scheme of drugging women by athletes…not good. At what point does the culture supporting the sport just think, enough is enough and find a new interest?

  37. Betting the NFL is pretty nervous about what Sharper will say about other player involvement in this. He has had to keep his mouth shut but now that this process is ending so betting the other shoe is about to drop….

  38. I’m just waiting for the first person to say that they’re praying he gets the help he needs to help him with mental illness. I’d say I hope someone does the same thing to him, but I think drugging him first would be too easy on this piece of garbage.

  40. “Federal sentence. He has to serve 85%. 91-92 months. That’s it. He will be out while he is still fairly young.”

    Nah man, he has to plead to 4 other states, this is the lightest of the deals he is going to get. He might get lucky and get the whole concurrent sentence thing, but im guessing nobody is gonna want “was light on a rapist” reputation. Sharper is gone for the rest of his life and my goodness, the things they do in prison to rapists… he’d be better off in isolation in federal prison, but that ain’t gonna happen.

  41. I’m more than a little surprised that he pled guilty. I’m happy for the victims in that they don’t have to go through the horrific process of testifying in court and consequently reliving what happened to them.

    But I’m shocked that he pled guilty. Even if the evidence against him is extremely strong, plenty of people in the past with deep wallets have pled “not guilty” on the chance that a high-priced lawyer can get them off.

  42. Considering some of the mandatory minimums for first time drug offenders his sentence is very short for his repeated crime of drugging and raping women . Our justice system needs a major overhaul start putting the violent real criminals in jail not consenting adults exercising their freedom of choice .

  44. Relating comments about Sharper being “rich” and “a football star” to his ability to “get” or “not get” girls is ludicrous. Of course he could “get” girls on his NFL persona alone, but this is a sickness that I would imagine started WAY before his days as an NFL player. On a different level, imagine an Ivy League graduate that secures a seven figure gig on Wall Street who STILL commits fraud or imbezzles from his company to “get” even more. Same psyche, different crime.

  45. If I remember the story correctly, he’s facing more counts in Louisiana than any other state. If that is the case, his plea deal will still be longer there. I can’t imagine the feds agreeing to any deal that lets him out in less than 20 years.

    What a total waste of skin.

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