Former Saints safety Darren Sharper has been ordered to be brought to New Orleans to face federal drug charges against him, putting that case ahead of the related rape charges he faces in three separate state jurisdictions. In paperwork filed Monday, Magistrate Judge Michael North ordered that Sharper be brought to New Orleans by Feb. 23 to face his arraignment on three counts in which Sharper is accused of drugging women with an Ambien-like drug in order to knock them out and sexually assault them. The extradition will put the federal case ahead of the separate state rape charges he faces in New Orleans, Tempe, Arizona and Los Angeles. Sharper will be transferred by U.S. Marshals from Los Angeles County Jail, where he has been held without bond since March 2014.
