Former NFL star Darren Sharper has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for drugging and raping as many as 16 women in four states.
Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced Sharper in New Orleans on Thursday after he'd pleaded guilty or no-contest to charges arising from the allegations made in Louisiana, Arizona, California and Nevada.
Prosecutors suggested a nine-year prison term for Sharper under a multi-jurisdictional plea deal, but 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.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
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.
He 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.
