SHARPER’S NEW DEAL REQUIRES TESTIMONY
Serial rapist Darren Sharper reached a new agreement that could put him in prison for more than nine years and require him to testify against two co-defendants at a federal trial, according to court documents filed Wednesday. The terms of the new plea agreement were not disclosed. But after his previous plea agreement was rejected last month by U.S. District Judge Jane Triche
Milazzo, the former NFL star didn’t have much leverage for a better deal. He could have withdrawn his guilty plea and faced a trial and the possibility of 20 years in prison on federal rape and drug charges. Milazzo on Wednesday set a hearing for March 17 on Sharper’s new agreement. A trial is scheduled for May 16 involving two of his alleged accomplices: former sheriff ’s deputy Brandon Licciardi and New Orleans waiter Erik Nunez. Both have pleaded not guilty. Sharper agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of his previous plea deal. If he testifies at trial, that cooperation could be weighed in his sentencing. His sentencing is now set for June 16. Sharper, 40, was accused of raping nine women in four states and has pleaded guilty or no contest to charges in California, Nevada, Arizona and Louisiana. Prosecutors say he used a similar pattern in the different cases, using drugs such as Ambien to render women unconscious before raping them while they slept. He won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints and played for the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. Nunez worked for the same women’s charity events at which Sharper sometimes made appearances to raise breast cancer awareness, according to social media accounts in his name. — Brent Schrotenboer