FORT BENNING (March 25, 2015) -- Really?
From the "I can't believe it department" of what's new in sports - Darren Sharper get's nine years for sexual assault.
Sharper, a former professional football star, admitted the crimes in Los Angeles Superior Court after pleading guilty by video link to sexual assault in Arizona.
The former all-pro safety won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints and retired from the NFL in 2011 after a 14-year career with three teams. He later worked as an analyst for the NFL network.
The crimes are reported to have happened after his retirement from football.
It's been reported that Sharper, 39, was facing up to 33 years in prison if convicted of all counts against him in California.
He was accused of drugging and raping two women in a West Hollywood bar in 2013 and 2014.
But, get this - under the broader plea deal negotiated by his lawyers and state and federal prosecutors, he will serve a nine-year federal prison term for similar crimes in Louisiana, Nevada, Arizona and California.
In the Arizona case, Sharper admitted to sexually assaulting one woman and trying to attack another in Phoenix in 2013.
And, the list goes on.
In each state, Sharper is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women when they were unconscious or otherwise unable to resist or consent.
At my last count, at least five women were victimized.
To me, this makes him a serial rapist - and he gets what - nine years?
To add insult to injury, this reported rapist's sentence will be served concurrently.
Yes, that's right - concurrently.
I keep bringing up nine years because that, in my opinion, is nowhere near what this man should get for his crimes.
Rape is not a victimless crime, it's a crime against humanity.
Sharper won a Super Bowl ring, was paid millions of dollars to play a game and apparently it wasn't enough for him.
Fortunately, if there is such a thing as being fortunate, his plea bargain saved his victims from having to face going through it all in court and reliving his demeaning actions.
Guys like him need to be kept in jail for much longer than the time he will serve.
While he will be 48 when he is eligible to be released, his victims will live with what he did forever - which is exactly what his sentence should be - forever.
I've always believed criminals always get what's coming to them and in the long run, true justice will be served.
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