Ex-Vandy player's sentence unchanged after rape case appeal

Published Aug. 9, 2019 2:14 p.m. ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee appeals court has upheld most of the convictions against a former Vanderbilt football player in the rape of an unconscious female student.

News outlets report the 17-year sentence for 26-year-old Brandon Vandenburg was unchanged Thursday in Nashville. He was sentenced in 2016 for the dorm room sexual assault in which three other former football players were also charged.

Court documents show the appeals court amended one count of aggravated rape to attempted aggravated rape. The court says the jury in Vandenburg's first trial found him guilty on a lesser charge, so he could not be convicted on a more severe charge in the retrial.

The court denied all 15 issues Vandenburg's attorneys brought forth in the appeal.