Darren Sharper Rape Case: Former NFL Star Sentenced 20 Years In Prison For Multi-State Sexual Assaults

NFL star Darren Sharper has made headlines for his rape case that has spanned over four states. The former New Orleans Saints safety is now facing judgement day as the final sentence in the drugging and rapping of almost 20 women will be handed down shortly.

According to The LA Times, the case which has taken almost three years to complete has come to a close. The former star has been given a 20-year prison sentence for drugging and raping two women in Los Angeles.

“I can only imagine myself lying there like a vegetable while he took advantage of my body without my permission,” one of the victims said in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday. “I have lost every bit of self confidence I’ve ever had and am always in fear while alone. It doesn’t matter whether it’s day or night, I can see a guy and automatically in my head think, ‘What if this guy tries to rape me?’”

The publication reports that in August, Sharper was sentenced to 18 years in prison and fined $20,000 for drugging and raping as many as 16 women in four states.

The 41-year-old pleaded guilty in Louisiana state court last year to two counts of forcible rape for drugging and assaulting two women and one count of simple rape stemming from two separate incidents in August and September 2013 involving three women. He was handed down a 20-year sentence in that case.

Despite the rape charges, Sharper also pleaded guilty last year in a New Orleans federal court to three counts of conspiracy to distribute drugs with the intent to commit rape after authorities say he and another man spiked women's drinks with anti-anxiety drugs so they could rape them.

There was a multi-jurisdiction "global" plea deal, which would have called for Sharper to serve nine years in prison, but it was rejected in June by Judge Jane Triche Milazzo.

Sharper has been in jail since February 2014 after being arrested in Los Angeles following the first rape allegations. Sharper also has faced cases in Arizona and Nevada.