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LOS ANGELES — Darren Sharper often seemed to get what he wanted.

A Super Bowl ring. A mansion in Miami. A new career as a television broadcaster.

In July 2013, the former NFL star even announced on Twitter that he was having “the absolute BEST time of my life!!”

But it wasn’t enough for him apparently. And now he’s looking at a nine-year stretch behind bars after taking a stunning dark turn as a serial rapist.

Sharper, 39, will serve about nine years in custody as part of an agreement to resolve all nine rape charges against him in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Tempe, Ariz.

He pleaded no contest in court here Monday to six counts, including charges of drugging and raping two women in October 2013 and January 2014.

Earlier in the day, he also pleaded guilty to sexual assault and attempted sexual assault in Arizona, where he was immediately sentenced to nine years in prison with no chance for early release.

As part of the global settlement negotiated by his attorneys, he will serve about nine years behind bars, with credit for time served in Los Angeles, where he has been jailed without bail since Feb. 27, 2014. The deal includes a 20-year prison term in California, but because of stipulations in the law and his credit for time served, Sharper will serve “a little less than nine years of actual custody time,” his attorney, Blair Berk, said in court Monday.

In addition to the charges in California and Arizona, Sharper faces two rape charges in Las Vegas and three in New Orleans. He is expected to enter guilty pleas in those states within the next month as part of the settlement. But neither state is expected to sentence him to more than 20 years in prison. He will serve all the sentences concurrently, with actual custody time amounting to less than nine years, his attorneys said in court. Sharper also will be on probation for life.

Source: USA TODAY