Former NFL star Darren Sharper was sentenced to nine years in federal prison on Monday immediately after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman in Arizona , marking the first change of plea of the day for the former safety accused of drugging and assaulting women in four states . Sharper on Monday admitted to charges of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault arising from the 2013 Arizona case . It is very unusual to sentence defendants immediately after a guilty plea , which normally takes weeks or months . Sharper , 39 , appeared in the Phoenix courtroom by video-conferencing from Los Angeles . He has been jailed in LA since February 2014 . Scroll down for video . Former NFL star Darren Sharper ( left ) and his attorney Leonard Levine ( right ) appear at an LA court on Monday . Sharper pleaded no contest on Monday to charges of drugging four women and raping two of them , after receiving a nine-year prison sentence for a sexual assault case in Arizona . Sharper , right in an LA court on Monday , admitted to charges of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault arising from the 2013 Arizona case . He was sentenced immediately . He also is expected to change his plea in person in Los Angeles on similar allegations . Similar hearings will follow in Las Vegas this week and in New Orleans in the next month . The Arizona and California cases , combined with others in Nevada and Louisiana , are likely to lead to a long prison sentence . In each state , Sharper was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women when they were unconscious or otherwise unable to resist or consent . Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Warren Granville said Sharper will serve his time in federal custody and that the Louisiana case will be resolved through a federal court . In Arizona , Sharper admitted sexually assaulting one victim , though police say he drugged and sexually assaulted three women , at an apartment in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe in November . Authorities say a search of the Tempe apartment turned up a shot glass with a white residue that turned out to be zolpidem , and California investigators discovered that Sharper had a prescription for the drug . Last year , Sharper 's attorneys said their client did not make the drinks that authorities say he used to drug the women . One of the women told police she had n't had any alcohol that night until Sharper insisted she drink a shot . Another young woman said she had been drugged , then went to bed , locked her door and was n't attacked . The next day , one of the women confronted Sharper , who denied wrongdoing , according to the reports . The reports said Sharper was in Arizona to visit a woman who lived at the apartment . The two had met about a year earlier in Las Vegas . Sharper won a Super Bowl title with the New Orleans Saints in 2010 and retired later that year . He played for the Saints , Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings during a standout 14-year NFL career . Darren Sharper , of the New Orleans Saints carries the NFC championship trophy around the stadium after the game against the Minnesota Vikings at the Louisiana Superdome on January 24 , 2010 .
Sharper on Monday admitted to charges of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault arising from the 2013 Arizona case . In an unusual move , he was sentenced immediately to serve nine years in federal prison . Sharper admitted sexually assaulting one victim , though police say he drugged and sexually assaulted three women , in November . A search of his apartment turned up a shot glass with a white residue that turned out to be zolpidem .