The NFL world got a big time shock on Tuesday in the form one a one time all-pro. Once considered one of the best at his position, he would spend 14 years in the league, win a Super Bowl, and be selected to the pro bowl numerous times.
Now he is remembered as a criminal and and has spent years behind bars. Here is what we know.
Also Read: Texas Court Continues To Draw Outrage With Brendan Sorsby Trial Date
Nov, 7, 2010; Charlotte, NC, USA; New Orleans Saints safety Darren Sharper (42) on the sidelines. The Saints defeated the Panthers 34-3 at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Fans Shocked After Former NFL All-Pro Transferred From Federal Prison
As his projected release date of 2028 approaches, Darren Sharper, an admitted serial rapist, has been transferred from federal prison to a halfway house program.
In a statement to the Guardian on Monday, a spokesperson of the Bureau of Prisons (BoP) stated that Sharper, 50, had been transferred from a federal correctional institution near Elkton, Ohio, to “community confinement.” This facility is overseen by the agency’s residential re-entry management office in Baltimore. The transfer occured on 27 May.
According to the spokesperson, Sharper is either in home confinement or living at a residential re-entry center, also known as a halfway house.
There was no immediate information available regarding the exact location of Sharper’s transfer. For reasons of privacy, safety, and security, the BoP does not disclose the specific locations of individuals in community confinement.
According to reporter Ramon Antonio Vargas:
Sharper pleaded guilty or no contest in 2015 and 2016 in local courts in Louisiana, California, Nevada and Arizona to charges that he had drugged and raped – or tried to rape – numerous women in the four states. He also pleaded guilty in New Orleans’s federal courthouse to plotting to carry out the drugging and rape conspiracy.
The case at one time commanded significant attention from the national and sports media because Sharper had won a Super Bowl championship with the New Orleans Saints in February 2010. The defensive superstar from Richmond, Virginia, also led the NFL in pass interceptions in two of his 14 years in the league before retiring in 2011. He earned prestigious first-team, All-Pro selections in each of those seasons.
After his series of guilty pleas, federal judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced Sharper to 18 years in prison in August 2016, giving him credit for the time he had served in authorities’ custody since his initial arrest in the case in February 2014.
Sharper at his sentencing said he apologized “a thousand times” for his acknowledged actions – while one of his victims bluntly told him to “go to hell”.