Darren Sharper was sentenced on Thursday after being arrested in 2014 in connection with the sexual assault of multiple women.

According to reports, the former NFL star has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for drugging and raping as many as 16 women in four states. Judge Jane Triche Milazzo gave Sharper the punishment just six months after she rejected an earlier agreement that would have allowed the former Saints safety to only serve nine years behind bars.

In court, Sharper began sobbing, saying that he’d apologized to the victims “thousands of times:”

“They didn’t deserve anything being a part of my heinous decisions. I don’t know why I lived my life right for 38 years, and then I took this path.”

A total of 16 victims have come forward with allegations against Sharper.

SOURCE: USA Today | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty 

[ione_media_gallery id=”4010833″ overlay=”true”]