Darren Sharper, the ex-safety for the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints, was sentenced Tuesday by a Los Angeles Superior Court to 20 years in prison. Sharper's sentence was part of a plea agreement for drugging and raping women in four different states.
Judge Michael Pastor, who conducted the sentencing hearing, denounced Sharper's "horrible conduct'' and "disgraceful abuse of trust," according to the Associated Press. Two victims described the night they were attacked by Sharper during the hearing in California.
The first, identified as Jane Doe 2, stated, "I started vomiting, my head was pounding and I had trouble seeing clearly,'' and that the night Sharper raped her was "the worst night of my life.''
"The only good thing about this situation is that this disgusting low-life human will be sent to prison for many years and is likely he will never be able to do to this to another woman again,'' she later said. "I hope this scumbag will now feel as worthless as he has made me feel.''
The other victim, identified as Jane Doe 4, was with a friend when they were both drugged by Sharper in 2013. The friend was sexually assaulted but she was not. She stated, "It's one thing to be a victim, but to be the victim that got 'lucky' in some eyes is not easy to live with. When I think back to that night I wonder what he could have done to me. That's not lucky. It's haunting.''
Sharper, 41,will be eligible for parole in approximately eight years because he already served around two years while awaiting his sentencing and California law requires that he serve half his sentence before applying for parole.
However, Sharper was also sentenced to 18 years in Louisiana by a judge that rejected his plea deal as too lenient. Sharper has appealed that sentence and is still awaiting a ruling. If the sentence is upheld, he will likely have to serve more than just the next eight years before applying for parole.