NEW ORLEANS - The federal judge who more than doubled former NFL star Darren Sharper's prison sentence told him that courts cannot ignore the damage he inflicted on women and on society at large.

U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo (TREESH mil-AH-zoh) had rejected a multistate plea agreement's 9-year sentence as too short. She sentenced Sharper on Thursday to 18 years and four months, and a $20,000 fine.

Before handing down the sentence, the judge told him she could never understand "how you arrived at this place," since he is educated and obviously grew up "in one of the most loving households."

He pleaded guilty in federal court to drugging three women so he could rape them. He has also pleaded guilty or no contest in state courts in Louisiana, Arizona, California and Nevada. He's accused of drugging and raping as many as 16 women in those four states.