Former Georgia linebacker Adam Anderson receives one-year sentence for sexual battery

Former University of Georgia star linebacker Adam Anderson was sentenced Monday in Clarke County Superior Court to a year in jail after he pleaded guilty to the sexual battery of two young women.

Anderson was originally charged with two counts of rape, but the felony charges were reduced to misdemeanor sexual battery charges.

Superior Court Judge Eric Norris accepted a plea negotiated between Athens area District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez and Anderson’s lawyer Steve Sadow of Atlanta.

Anderson, who lives in Rome and was given until Saturday to surrender at the Athens-Clarke County jail, entered what is called an Alford plea, in which he agrees that entering the plea is in his best interest and it allows him to still maintain his innocence.

Gonzalez had asked the judge to impose two consecutive 12-month sentences or two years in prison. However, Norris imposed two 12-months sentences to run concurrently, meaning Anderson will be out in more than a year.

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Anderson was accused of assaulting the women in 2021, one in Athens and the other in an apartment complex in Oconee County.

Anderson, a tall athlete who towered over his lawyer as they stood at the podium, entered his guilty plea after he was questioned by the judge regarding his rights.

Before sentencing, Anderson made a short statement.

“I’m sorry for what I did,” he said.

However, Gonzalez made an issue of the defendant’s comment.

“I’m sorry for what I did to them,” Anderson then responded.

What former Georgia football star Adam Anderson's victims said

The women, both 21, described during the hearing how emotional and traumatizing the case had been. One described how it has changed her life as she is afraid to show her face in her own college town.

She said the case shows the courts have lowered the standards for the crime he committed. The process, she said, has been so traumatizing that “I want it to be over.”

She was also in opposition to the judge allowing Anderson to stay at home in Floyd County until Saturday, pointing out his disregard for the law as he has been charged with a crime in Fulton County.

The other woman said the assault on her has been so emotional she has sought therapy and even contemplated suicide.

Breaking into tears, she told the judge she did not agree with the sentence. And in a statement pointed at Anderson, she told him she wanted him to admit what he did and to “call it rape.”

Norris asked Sadow why Anderson wanted to postpone his jail term until Saturday and Sadow explained Anderson needed to get his personal affairs in order and he wants to visit with an aunt who won’t be in Rome until later in the week.

After the sentence was imposed, the two women, obviously upset with the sentence, left the courtroom with one making a derogatory remark as she was at the exit.

When Norris began to question what happened, Sadow interjected, “We’ll let it go. Emotions run hot. We understand.”

Can Adam Anderson still play football?

Outside the courtroom, Sadow was asked about Anderson’s football career and he said it is “definitely not over with.”

Anderson was projected to have been a first-round pick in the National Football League draft in the spring, which would have translated into a contract in the millions of dollars.

Sadow explained the NFL does not make determinations on players eligibility in the league until they are actual members of the league and this matter occurred while he was not in the NFL.

However, Anderson’s legal problems have not ended.

In Fulton County, he was arrested on June 2, 2022, on charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, battery, simple battery, theft by taking and reckless conduct. Those charges were filed by Georgia Tech police, according to documents filed by the district attorney.

The charges are still pending, according to the document.

In May 2022, he was arrested by Cobb County police on charges of DUI and simple assault. The DUI was later dismissed, but he was sentenced to almost a year on probation for the assault charge, according to documents.

Outside the courtroom, Anderson declined to speak with reporters.