Former NFL Defensive Lineman Dana Stubblefield Sentenced to 15 Years to Life in Prison for Rape

Former defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for raping a mentally disabled woman in 2015, according to TMZ. He was found guilty of the charge in July, which was forcible rape while using a gun. Allen Sawyer, Stubblefield's attorney told TMZ that there will be an appeal.

"We're very confident that if the jury had the correct information, they would have (come) to a different conclusion," Sawyer said. "I've never had a case that so much evidence has been excluded. We wanted the truth to come out and we're going to keep fighting." Sawyer went on the say that Stubblefield "knows he's innocent" and he's " he's gonna be patient" while the legal system plays out. Sawyer then mentioned that it's been hard for Stubblefield's family and "this is what he has to go through in order to get to where he needs to be."

When the verdict came down, it was nine months after deliberation and five months after the victim reported the incident to police. Stubblefield contacted the 31-year-old woman on a babysitting website one day before the assault. The former Pro Bowl defensive lineman interviewed the woman for 20 minutes but contacted her again to pay her for her time that day. The woman was paid $80 after the assault.

At the time of the conviction, Sawyer said the incident was a "paid encounter for sex" and not assault. "There's a lot of information that we have, that the jury was not allowed to have, that we think would have been impactful to their decision," Sawyer said to the San Francisco Chronicle at the time. We expect to keep fighting for Mr. Stubblefield's innocence. We will clear his name, and we look forward to fighting this out in the courts. This is just the first battle."

Stubblefield, 49, played for the San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins and Oakland Raiders during his 11-year career. He's remembered for his time with the 49ers as he was named to the Pro Bowl three times with his first stint with the team (1993, 1995 and 1997). He helped the team win the Super Bowl in 1995 (1994 season) and was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1997.