Former Georgia linebacker Adam Anderson was sentenced Monday in Athens-Clarke County (Georgia) Superior Court to a year in jail, according to multiple reports, after pleading guilty to the sexual battery of two young women.
In April 2022, a grand jury indicted Anderson and charged him with raping a 21-year-old woman in a house in Athens, Georgia, on Oct. 29, 2021. A second woman later alleged Anderson sexually assaulted her in Georgia’s neighboring Oconee County.
Anderson, a native of Rome, Georgia, who was once considered a potential NFL first-round draft choice, was arrested on Nov. 10, 2021, and released on $25,000 bond a week later. He had been indefinitely suspended from the Bulldogs since the athletic department was notified of the allegation on Nov. 2, 2021.
His felony charges were eventually reduced to misdemeanor sexual battery, and Superior Court Judge Eric Norris accepted a plea negotiated between Athens area District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez and Anderson’s lawyer Steve Sadow of Atlanta on Monday, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
Anderson, who was given until Saturday to surrender at the Athens-Clarke County Jail, according to the newspaper, entered what is called an Alford plea. In doing so, he and his legal team agree that entering the plea is in the former player’s best interest, and it allows him to still maintain his innocence.
According to the report, Gonzalez had asked the judge to impose two consecutive 12-month sentences or two years in prison. Norris imposed two 12-month sentences to run concurrently.
According to an Athens-Clarke County Police Department incident report, the 21-year-old woman told police that she went to a house between midnight and 7 a.m. on Oct. 29, 2021. After having drinks, the woman said, she woke up while Anderson was raping her. She reported it to the police that day.
On Oct. 30, 2021, Anderson played in the Bulldogs’ 34-7 victory over Florida in Jacksonville. A Georgia official said the athletic department wasn’t aware of the allegation when he played against the Gators.
Anderson was one of the stars of Georgia’s defense before his arrest. At the time of his suspension, he led the team with five sacks and was second with 5.5 tackles for loss to go with 32 tackles and 14 quarterback hurries. He didn’t play in the team’s final seven games.
At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, Anderson was ranked the No. 29 prospect for the 2022 NFL draft by ESPN — as well as the No. 4 outside linebacker — at the time of his arrest.