Earlier this month, Mike Florio noted that former NFL safety Darren Sharper was back on track for trial despite pleading guilty to multiple rape and sexual assault charges in multiple states last year.
The plea called for Sharper to spend 108 months in prison in a deal that covered the charges in Louisiana, Arizona, Nevada and California. The fact that the case appeared back on the calendar suggested that a federal judge rejected the terms of the plea deal and that was confirmed in New Orleans on Thursday.
“This court cannot accept this plea agreement,” U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo said, via the Associated Press.
Milazzo said a pre-sentence report by federal authorities called for a prison sentence of 15-20 years for the crimes that Sharper pleaded guilty to in the original deal. She gave Sharper until a March 3 sentencing hearing to decide whether he will withdraw his plea.