Ex-Raiders WR Henry Ruggs Pleads Guilty To Vehicle Manslaughter Charge, Faces 3-10 Years in Prison
Ex-Raiders wideout Henry Ruggs III faces three to 10 years in Nevada State prison after driving his vehicle three times over the speeding limit in Nevada, resulting in the death of a woman and her dog.
Ruggs Agrees To Fairly Light Prison Term For Fatal DUI Crash
On Wednesday, the 24-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of DUI resulting in death and one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in a brief court appearance. Ruggs avoided trial for a felony DUI charge, which carried a sentencing of up to 20 years in prison.
Henry Ruggs III at Allegiant Stadium on December 13, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images)
Henry Ruggs' plea deal will not count his past year and a half under house arrest as time served, according to the Associated Press.
"Guilty," Ruggs said before Nevada 8th Judicial District Court Judge Jennifer Schwartz. Members of the deceased woman, 23-year-old Tina Tintor, were present at the court on Wednesday.
Henry Ruggs III's police booking photo on May 02, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via Getty Images)
(Photo by Steve Marcus-Pool/Getty Images)
On Nov. 1, 2021, Henry Ruggs spent the evening drinking at a Topgolf in Las Vegas with his girlfriend, Kiara Je'Nai Kilgo-Washington. Ruggs drove his Corvette Stingray home in the early hours of the next day — intoxicated — and rammed his vehicle into Tintor's RAV4, causing it to travel 571 feet.
Both Tintor — a Serbian immigrant — and her dog perished in the flaming vehicle.
Ruggs' attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, provided a brief statement on the plea deal. "Henry entered his plea today in hopes that it will further the process of healing the wounds caused by the accident," the statement read.
Life-Changing Mistake Derails Henry Ruggs' Future
Henry Ruggs of the Las Vegas Raiders was driving a Chevrolet Corvette that hit the Toyota, killing Tina Tintor, 23. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
A photograph of Tina Tintor and her dog Max is displayed among items left at a roadside memorial near the site where they died in a vehicle crash involving former Las Vegas Raiders player Henry Ruggs III on November 4, 2021 in Las Vegas. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Ruggs had been driving 156 mph in a 45 mph zone; he slammed on his brakes as he noticed Tintor's vehicle but was still traveling over 120 mph when the vehicles collided. Ruggs suffered several injuries, as did Kilgo-Washington. He refused to take a field sobriety test, but a blood-alcohol sample taken at a Las Vegas hospital demonstrated his BAC level at 0.16% (twice the state's legal limit).
The former wideout is expected to receive his sentencing on Aug. 9.
READ: HENRY RUGGS TO ACCEPT PLEA DEAL IN FATAL DUI CRASH
The Raiders released Ruggs on Nov. 2, 2021, shortly after news of the crash circulated. After a successful tenure at Alabama, Ruggs was selected as the No. 12 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
In his second year in Las Vegas, Henry Ruggs played seven games and posted 24 catches, 469 receiving yards, and two touchdowns.
Former Raiders player Henry Ruggs waits in court for a hearing at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)