Former NFL Star Darren Sharper Seeks Reduced 18-Year Federal Prison Sentence In Rape Case

Former NFL star and convicted serial rapist Darren Sharper is seeking another appeal to reduce his current 18-year federal prison sentence for drugging and raping multiple women.

The Associated Press reports, on Wednesday, Sharper’s lawyers filed a 50-page memorandum in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, arguing the disgraced baller was “not adequately advised by his trial lawyers on the consequences of his 2016 guilty plea.” The motion also went on to dispute the judge and U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals made errors during Sharper’s case.

The 42-year-old’s case came as a result of a string of allegations claiming Sharper drugged and sexually assaulted 16 women. Although not all of the allegations became formal complaints, Sharper pleaded guilty or no contest to sexually assaulted nine women in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Louisiana. He also pleaded guilty to raping three women in two New Orleans incidents between August and September of 2013, according to The Times-Picayune.

Sharper was formally sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo in 2016 to 18 years and four months in prison.

Prior to his sentencing, Sharper entered a global plea deal in federal court after he was arrested and jailed in 2014, the AP reported. The deal was expected to result in the Virginia-native serving nine years in prison, however, Judge Milazzo reportedly rejected the sentence as too lenient. She later went on to give Sharper the option of withdrawing his plea, which he decided to maintain and later resulted in his current sentence.

According to his lawyers, the former New Orleans Saints player deserves “more credit” in his sentencing due to his cooperation with prosecutors

“Mr. Sharper intended, and still intends, to accept responsibility for his behavior,” Sharper’s lawyers said in court filings. “He does not seek to escape blame in this matter.”

As a result of the new court documents, Judge Milazzo issued an order on Thursday that gives prosecutors until August 27 to respond.

Should Judge Milazzo grant Darren Sharper a reduced sentence for his 18-year rape sentence?