Sharper Files Notice Of Appeal In Federal Rape Case

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Former NFL star Darren Sharper has filed a federal court notice that he now plans to appeal his conviction and nearly two-decade sentence in a drug and sexual assault case — a case in which he pleaded guilty.

Sharper had pleaded guilty or no-contest in four states where he faced allegations that he drugged and raped women. Charged in both state and federal jurisdictions, he had entered a plea deal that called for a roughly nine-year sentence.

But U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo in New Orleans rejected the light sentence and last week imposed an 18-year, four-month sentence. A Louisiana state judge on Thursday added a 20-year sentence to run at the same time.

The grounds for his appeal were not spelled out in Friday's one-paragraph filing.

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