Ex-NFL Player Henry Ruggs Heading To Prison For Fatal Accident

Posted on: May 2, 2023, 07:02h. 

Last updated on: May 3, 2023, 02:45h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III has agreed to a deal that will likely send him to prison for anywhere between three and 10 years for his role in a deadly accident, according to news reports.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers check vehicles
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers check vehicles involved in a deadly crash. Henry Ruggs was one of the drivers and agreed to a plea deal to send him to prison. (Image: AP)

Ruggs told Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Harmony Letizia on Tuesday that he will admit to driving under the influence of alcohol, causing death in connection with the November 2, 2021, fiery crash. He will also admit to vehicular manslaughter. The sentences for both counts will be served concurrently.

The 24-year-old had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16 two hours after the collision, Sports Illustrated reported. That is twice Nevada’s legal limit of .08. Ruggs refused to take a sobriety test at the crash site.

He was traveling at speeds up to 156 mph and slowed his Corvette to about 127 mph just before the car rear-ended a Toyota Rav 4 near Rainbow Boulevard in Las Vegas.

The Toyota was driven by Tina Tintor, 23. Her dog Max was also in the vehicle at the time of the crash. Both died in the fire caused by the impact.

Court Resolution

On Tuesday, Judge Letizia scheduled a May 10 hearing for District Judge Jennifer Schwartz to hear Ruggs’s formal guilty plea. The judge can’t lower the sentence given the time Ruggs already spent in jail.

Prosecutor Eric Bauman said the office of Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson backs the plea deal. So do the Las Vegas-based defense attorneys.

This is the first step toward a fair resolution to this matter and we look forward to closure for all parties involved,” Ruggs’s legal team of David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said in a statement released on Tuesday.

The court must first accept the parties’ stipulations, Chesnoff added during the hearing. If the court does not accept the stipulations, Ruggs can withdraw his guilty plea and proceed to trial.

Ruggs’s defense attorneys also waived their client’s right to a preliminary hearing in the case.

Other original charges against him will be dropped, including reckless driving, driving under the influence, causing substantial injury, and a gun charge. A loaded firearm was found in the Corvette after the accident.

Riggs faced up to 50 years in prison if he would have been convicted of those dropped charges, prosecutors said.

Fall From Grace

Ruggs remains on house arrest up until the time of sentencing. After his release from a local hospital, he posted a $150,000 bond to gain freedom from jail. Prosecutors had asked for bail to be set at $1M.

Before the accident, Ruggs signed a four-year NFL contract reportedly worth more than $16 million. He was a first-round NFL Draft pick. Ruggs led the Raiders in receiving yards in 2021. The former Alabama standout had 24 receptions, 469 receiving yards, and two touchdowns through seven games.

Ruggs suffered a leg injury in the crash. His girlfriend, Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington, a passenger in the Corvette, suffered an arm injury.

He was released by the Raiders after the crash.