Former UGA football star Adam Anderson pleaded guilty on Monday to two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery and was sentenced to a year behind bars in a plea deal that resolves two felony rape charges against him.
As part of the agreement, Anderson will turn himself in to the Athens-Clarke County jail on Saturday and is barred from directly or indirectly contacting either of his two accusers, both of whom attended the hearing in an Athens courtroom and gave tearful victim impact statements.
Athens Clarke-County District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez asked Superior Court Judge Eric Norris to sentence Anderson to 24 months, twice as long as the sentence that was issued. Gonzalez did not offer details in court about why prosecutors were agreeing to the plea deal.
As part of the agreement, Anderson apologized in open court.
“I’m sorry for what I did to them,” he said.
Both victims told the judge that two years still wasn’t enough, especially considering Anderson faced possible mandatory minimum sentences which could have put him in jail for decades. One victim called the deal a “slap in the face,” and both left the Athens courtroom shortly after Anderson was sentenced. The AJC does not identify the victims of sexual crimes.
One of Anderson’s victims was relieved that he made some admission of guilt, said her attorney, Lisa Anderson, who is not related to the defendant. However, the admission to a lesser charge was disappointing to her client, Anderson said.
“She was hoping that he would receive a harsher penalty and he would be charged with the offenses he committed,” said Lisa Anderson, who represented a former UGA student who came forward with the original allegation against Anderson.
Adam Anderson made what’s referred to as an “Alford plea,” in which a defendant continues to assert their innocence but takes a guilty plea to avoid a trial. His 12-month sentence includes credit for seven days in jail that he had already served. Anderson will serve his time in the county jail.
Anderson declined to comment after the hearing. His lead attorney, Steve Sadow, said the plea was important to his client to resolve the matter.
“I always appreciate a judge attempting to be as reasonable under the circumstances as he or she could be,” Sadow said.
Before the deal was struck, Anderson had been scheduled to appear before Judge Norris on Monday morning for a bond revocation hearing. Earlier this month, Gonzalez had asked the court to revoke Anderson’s bond, alleging he had violated his bond conditions when he was arrested in separate incidents in the metro area in 2022.
In May of last year, Anderson was arrested in Cobb County for driving under the influence and two counts of simple assault, according to court records. Less than a month later, he was charged in Fulton County with kidnapping, false imprisonment and battery, among other charges. The Fulton case has yet to be resolved.
Anderson was originally granted bond in 2021 at a hearing attended by several UGA players and UGA Athletic Association staffer Bryant Gantt, who testified in support of Anderson as a character witness.
The Athens rape case stems from an incident in October 2021. A student who worked part time in the university’s football office told police that she had been drinking that night and awoke to Anderson penetrating her without her consent. At the time, Anderson was a star linebacker for the Bulldogs and projected as a top draft pick. Shortly after he was charged, Anderson was suspended from the football program and never played another game.
Later, in a separate incident, Anderson was also charged with rape in Oconee County after another accuser came forward.
Sadow said Anderson’s sentence does not shut the door on his aspirations to play in the NFL.
“It’s definitely not over with,” Sadow said.
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