breaking news
Former New Orleans Saints star Darren Sharper now faces federal charges for rape and distributing prescription meds -- on top of the charges he's already been hit with in multiple states.
Sharper was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to distribute generic versions of Valium, Xanax, and Ambien ... with intent to commit rape between January 2010 and May 2014. He was also charged with 2 counts of actually distributing the drugs with intent to rape.
An Ex-sheriff's deputy in New Orleans, Brandon Licciardi, was hit with the same charges ... in addition to witness tampering and impeding an investigation.
Worth noting ... the indictment accuses Sharper of distributing drugs to women in New Orleans WHILE he was behind bars. He's been locked up in L.A. since Feb. 28, 2014 -- so it seems impossible he committed the alleged crimes in March, April or May of this year.