Former NFL star Darren Sharper's federal court hearing had been scheduled Tuesday in New Orleans. It was his first trial after he maintained his guilty plea over the drugging and rape case filed against him by women in four states.
In February, U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo denounced the nine-year sentencing for Sharper. During the time. The judge claimed that nine-year imprisonment for Sharper was inappropriate and insufficient punishment for his crimes, USA Today reported. Milazzo said that he should be sentenced to a range of 15 to 20 years. A trial for Sharper's co-defendants, including former sheriff's deputy Brandon Licciardi and New Orleans waiter Erik Nunez is set for May 16. Both of the co-defendants pleaded not guilty on the rape case.
"Mr. Sharper respectfully requests that his sentencing be continued until after the trial of this matter, currently scheduled for May 16, 2016, so that the Court can evaluate his full cooperation in connection with sentencing," his attorneys stated in court documents. "The government consents to this request."
Sharper pleaded guilty or no contest over the drugging and rape case filed in states, California, Nevada, Arizona and Louisiana. According to the prosecutors, the 40-year-old NFL player had used Ambien, Xanax and Valium drugs to render the women unconscious before raping them. In his guilty plea, he also promised to cooperate with the government, Sharper's plea deal also includes his testimony in the case against two co-defendants, according to WDSU. Licciardi AND Nunez were accused of involved in the alleged assaults of three women in New Orleans.
Sharper is presently detained in a local prison while he's cooperating with the prosecutors. One of the rape cases filed against the player in Louisiana was the filing of two women who were allegedly raped by Sharper in his apartment in Sept. 2013, KATC reports.
Sharper's sentencing is set for June 16.
