Former NFL First-Round Pick Receives Prison Sentence After Drunk Driving Crash That Killed Woman

 Former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was sentenced to a minimum of three years and a maximum of ten years in state prison this week after he pled guilty to two charges related to a drunk driving accident that resulted in a woman’s death.

Ruggs, a first-round draft pick in 2020, reached 156 mph in his Corvette Stingray before plowing into Tintor’s Toyota RAV4 in 2021, propelling Tina Tintor’s vehicle 571 feet, according to police. Ruggs’ girlfriend was also injured in the crash. Two hours after the fatal crash, a blood draw revealed that Ruggs’ blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit in Nevada at 0.161.

“To the parents and family of Ms. Tintor, I sincerely apologize for the pain and suffering,” Ruggs, 24, said in court on Wednesday. “My actions are not a true reflection of me.”

Henry Ruggs apology this morning:

(via Las Vegas Review Journal) pic.twitter.com/PMS56Jo2lx

— Ari Meirov NFL Show (@AriMeirovShow) August 9, 2023

District Attorney Steven Wolfson said that the DUI charge was “the most serious charge the law allows” when a person is killed by a drunk driver. The DUI resulting in death charge was based on the result of the blood draw, which Ruggs’ lawyers challenged.

“I recognize this outcome is not sufficient to punish Ruggs for the loss the Tintor family has suffered,” a statement from Wolfson said earlier this year, “but there was a legitimate concern that a court would have suppressed the result of the blood draw. We would have lost the felony DUI charge. We couldn’t take that chance. This resolution sends Ruggs to prison for up to 10 years on a felony DUI conviction and brings closure to the Tintor family.”

The day after the crash, Ruggs was released from prison on a $150,000 bond and cut by the Raiders. He has been confined to his home ever since, only being allowed to leave his house to work out twice a week. Ruggs will remain under house arrest until his sentencing.

 

The former receiver was a standout at the University of Alabama before being drafted 12th overall by Las Vegas in 2020. At the time of the fatal crash, Ruggs was leading the Raiders in receiving yards.