A judge on Wednesday sentenced Henry Ruggs III, a former Raiders wide receiver, to at least three years in prison for his role in a crash that killed a woman in Las Vegas in 2021.
Ruggs pleaded guilty in May to a felony drunken driving charge for crashing his sports car into the sport utility vehicle of Tina Tintor, 23, on Nov. 2, 2021. On Wednesday, Judge Jennifer Schwartz sentenced Ruggs to up to 10 years in prison, with Ruggs eligible for parole after three years, which was in line with the contours of a plea agreement.
Authorities said Ruggs, now 24, a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft, was driving his Corvette at 156 miles per hour at 3:40 a.m. when he crashed into the SUV. said Tintor, blazing, killing. Tintor and his dog, Max.
Ruggs’ blood alcohol level was reported to be 0.16, or twice the legal limit in Nevada, and his girlfriend, Kiara Kilgo-Washington, was also injured. The Raiders released Ruggs from their roster hours after the crash.
As part of his plea deal, Ruggs pleaded guilty in May in Nevada’s Eighth Judicial District Court to one count of driving under the influence resulting in death, a felony, and one count of vehicular manslaughter, a misdemeanor. . Prosecutors dismissed three original felony charges — two counts of reckless driving and driving under the influence resulting in bodily harm — and a misdemeanor charge of possession of a firearm while under the influence of drugs. or alcohol.
Ruggs appeared in court wearing a black suit and tie tied by his defense attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld. Ruggs read a prepared statement and said his actions were “not a true reflection of me.”
“For the past 21 months, I’ve been looking for a way to find answers to my selfish behavior that day,” Ruggs said in front of Tintor’s family members in the courtroom. “I have no excuse and pray that accepting responsibility with my guilty plea will allow me to begin the healing process and allow everyone involved to heal as well.”
Before the sentence was imposed, Schwartz called the case “one of the most horrific” he had ever seen. And Mirjana Komazec, Tintor’s mother, prepared a statement read by a representative for the family saying: “Every parent’s worst nightmare is to create a beautiful child only to have them at the hands of others’ negligence.”
Ruggs could have faced more than 50 years in prison if he had been convicted of the original charges.
The plea deal resolved a nearly two-year legal dispute between prosecutors and Ruggs’ defense team, which raised questions about how police obtained evidence that Ruggs had been drinking.
Ruggs did not admit to drinking when authorities interviewed him after the crash, but police obtained a warrant for a blood-alcohol test when Ruggs went to a hospital. His lawyers argued that the police should not have obtained the warrant. And in May, Steven Wolfson, the Clark County district attorney, acknowledged that it was not clear that the blood samples could be used in the trial, which led to the offer of the plea agreement.
“There is a legitimate concern that a court will withhold the results of a blood draw,” Wolfson said in a statement. “We would have lost the felony DUI charge. We can’t take that chance.”
Eve Hanan, an associate dean of the law school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said in an interview that police lacked visual or verbal evidence to conclude that Ruggs was drunk.
“Causing death is serious, but the question is, was he really speeding and driving, or was he driving drunk? And I don’t think they have it,” Hanan said. “I think that under federal constitutional standards, not just Nevada standards, that they don’t have enough to stick a needle in someone’s arm, and the only evidence they have of drinking is the blood.”
The Tintor family said in a statement in May that they wanted the case dismissed.
“No punishment will bring Tina and Max back, but we hope that everyone learns from this preventable incident so that no other family will suffer like we did,” the family said in a statement via a lawyer. “We appreciate the efforts of the district attorney’s office to overcome the issues raised by the initial investigation.”
Since the crash, Ruggs has been under house arrest with strict conditions after posting $150,000 bail. He was in his second season and started all seven games for the Raiders in 2021 before the crash. In a statement following the sentencing, Ruggs’ attorneys said he accepted the verdict and would “return to making positive contributions to his community” upon his release from prison.
His arrest is one of a series of criminal incidents involving NFL players over the past two years.
The NFL last week suspended New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara for three games for his role in beating a man outside a Las Vegas nightclub on February 5, 2022, the day before the Pro Bowl, the NFL’s annual all-star. game. Kamara pleaded no contest in July to an amended misdemeanor charge of breach of peace, avoiding prison time by reaching a plea deal. Kamara must complete 30 hours of community service, pay a $500 fine and pay more than $100,000 in medical expenses to the victim, Darnell Greene.