Darren Sharper -- Locked Up In New Orleans ... Preps for Guilty Plea

Darren Sharper has touched down in New Orleans ... where prosecutors say he's expected to plead guilty to multiple counts of rape next week.

Sharper had been locked up in L.A. for more than a year -- but officials allowed him to travel to N.O. so he could appear in court for drug charges on Monday and rape charges on Tuesday.

First, the rape case ... as we previously reported, the former NFL star cut a deal with prosecutors where he'll be sentenced to 20 years in Louisiana for raping 3 women, but will only serve 9 of those years behind bars.

Sharper will get credit for the remaining 11 years while free on parole and probation.

As for the drugs ... Sharper is scheduled to appear in federal court on Monday to face charges that he illegally distributed drugs with "the intent to commit a crime of violence, that is rape."