Darren Sharper, ex-NFL player, pleads guilty to rape in Louisiana

darren-sharper-6dc9a5625629ed09 — Former NFL safety Darren Sharper appears in Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles. Sharper is moving closer to resolving charges that he drugged and sexually assaulted women in four states. Sharper faces at least nine years in prison after having pleaded guilty or no-contest to charges that he distributed drugs with the intent to commit rape in Nevada, Arizona and California. He previously pleaded not guilty in New Orleans, but is set to change that plea Friday morning, May 29, 2015, in federal court. (Bob Chamberlin/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File)

Former NFL safety Darren Sharper appears in Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles. Sharper is moving closer to resolving charges that he drugged and sexually assaulted women in four states. Sharper faces at least nine years in prison after having pleaded guilty or no-contest to charges that he distributed drugs with the intent to commit rape in Nevada, Arizona and California. He previously pleaded not guilty in New Orleans, but is set to change that plea Friday morning, May 29, 2015, in federal court. (Bob Chamberlin/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File)

(AP) Former New Orleans Saints player Darren Sharper has pleaded guilty to rape in a Louisiana drug-and-sexual-assault case, completing a series of pleas in four states that will see him serve at least nine years in prison.

Sharper entered his plea Monday in a Louisiana state court in New Orleans.

He had already pleaded guilty in the federal courthouse in that city late last month. And he’s pleaded guilty or no-contest to charges in California, Arizona and Nevada.

Each case arose from allegations that the former NFL star drugged and sexually assaulted women. A plea deal involving the four states and the federal court was announced in March. Formal sentencing is still pending but the deal calls for Sharper, who was jailed last year, to spend nine more years behind bars.