Former NBA player Rashid Byrd is sentenced to 90 years in prison due to multiple sexual assaults

Ever since Rashid Byrd’s first sexual assault case in 2005, he’s been under the police’s radar. Today, he’s been sentenced to 90 years in prison after a nearly four-year investigation proved he was directly involved in a series of assaults. 

The former athlete, who mostly participated for the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the NBA Development league, has already been behind bars since September 2020, after a woman gave her testimony explaining how he sexually took advantage of her back in 2019.

This was when detectives found out that the player had already been arrested for two other assaults in 2005 and then 2010. This past Friday, the LAPD announced that the sentenced was based on a “series of violent sexual assaults” in Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties between 2015 and 2020.

Former NBA prospect and 'Semi-Pro' actor Rashid Byrd is sentenced to 90 years in prison after being found guilty of 'a series of violent sexual assaults' https://t.co/cAK0U5MPjm pic.twitter.com/Lp41LtNwjs

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) March 3, 2024

“During their investigation, detectives learned in 2010, Byrd was convicted of sexual assault involving a different victim,” the Los Angeles Police Department stated last week. “Detectives also discovered that Byrd had been arrested for sexually assaulting a young woman in Washington State in 2005.”

Detective Dara Brown explained how it all began. “He started as a charmer, playing up his status as an athlete and pseudo-celebrity, but that quickly faded into rapes and violence,” she confirmed as the lead investigator on the case, and then gave thanks to all the testimonies that helped her recreate what actually happened.

Now that Byrd’s conviction is out in the open, Brown celebrated along with her police department. “The LAPD is grateful for the brave women who came forward to tell their stories. While this investigation has gone on for years, we are thankful that Byrd is no longer on the streets,” she told the press.

The detective revealed that the LAPD had made efforts to contact all of Byrd’s victims while asking “that with information regarding his crimes contact her.”

Besides being a basketball player, Byrd was a pseudo-celebrity after landing two roles in 2008 and 2009

After playing in the NBA Development league, Rashid became more popularly known for his roles as an actor. In 2008 he starred in Will Ferrel’s comedy called Semi Pro, where he made took his first steps in the movie industry as a part of the Flint Tropics squad.

One year later he landed a role in the documentary Bring Your ‘A’ Game, which also had was centered around basketball. This project included other stars like Ice Cube, Mario Van Peebles and Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The 39-year-old will now spend the rest of his life in California State Prison as his bail was set at $4,150,000, and has remained in custody since his arrest in 2020, law enforcement officials announced.