Darren Sharper is getting more sympathy from the courts than he is his former teammates.
ESPN.com reported that the former NFL All-Pro defensive back will serve nine years in federal prison after he pleaded no contest to drugging and raping two women in Los Angeles. The plea is part of a broader deal involving the nine rape charges against him spanning four states.
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The 39-year-old Sharper admitted to drugging and raping two women that he met at a West Hollywood bar in 2013 and 2014, according to ESPN. He also admitted to sexual assault against one woman and attempting to sexually assault another in Arizona.
His lawyers negotiated a deal with prosecutors in California, Arizona, Nevada and Louisiana that he serve nine years for the total of nine rape charges against him.
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The two women in the Los Angeles trial agreed to the sentencing, ESPN reported. Former New Orleans Saints teammate Scott Fujita did not.
"He was a great teammate, a great player," Fujita told TMZ.com. "But all that aside, it's disgusting and beyond repulsive."
"Look, I'm a dad of 3 daughters ... If he ends up only serving 9 years, it's an absolute shame. It's way too short."
Erik Nunez is a co-defendant in the Louisiana case, the Advocate reported. Brandon Licciardi, a former St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office deputy, is a co-defendant in the federal case. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Sharper and Licciardi are accused in the federal indictment of scheming to dish out Ambien, Xanax and Valium, the Advocate reported, with the intent to commit rape beginning at least as far back as January 2010.
Fujita isn't the only one who thinks nine years - he actually was given 20 years and ordered to serve half; Sharper already has been in prison for more than a year, bringing the total remaining time to nine years with 10 - is a light sentence for the transgressions Sharper committed.
Shaun Clarke, a former prosecutor in New Orleans, says he believes Sharper is cooperating with authorities to get such a lenient deal.
"The reality of the criminal justice system, fair or not, is that if you can bring others into the net, you've got something to trade. That's just the way it is," Clarke said.
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