Former NBA player and actor Rashid Byrd has been handed a sentence of 90 years to life in prison for a series of violent sexual assaults. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) initiated an investigation into Byrd in 2019 after a victim reported being sexually assaulted by him, as reported by deadline.com. During their investigation, detectives discovered that Byrd had previously been convicted of sexual assault involving a different victim in 2010. Additionally, Byrd had been arrested for sexually assaulting a young woman in Washington State in 2005, according to LAPD's statement.
Byrd reportedly charmed his victims initially, leveraging his status as an athlete and pseudo-celebrity, before turning violent."He started as a charmer, playing up his status as an athlete and pseudo-celebrity, but that quickly faded into rapes and violence," said the lead investigator on the case.Byrd, who appeared in the 2008 film 'Semi Pro' starring Will Ferrell, as well as in the documentary short 'Bring Your ‘A’ Game', played 22 games for the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League during the 2008-2009 season. He was taken into custody by LAPD detectives in 2020 for sexual assault.The 39-year-old has been sentenced to 90 years to life in state prison for the violent sexual assaults that occurred in L.A. and Santa Clara counties.