Former Raiders WR Henry Ruggs III to spend 3-10 years in prison after judge accepts plea deal

Former Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III will learn his fate later this summer after the judge presiding over his case accepted his plea deal on Wednesday morning. Ruggs pled guilty to one count of Driving Under the Influence resulting in death and one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter on May 2.

With the formal agreement of the plea deal, the former Alabama Crimson Tide star will serve between 3-10 years in prison for the drunk driving crash in November of 2021 that killed 23-year-old woman Tina Tintor and her dog.

The hearing to determine the length of Ruggs’ sentence is on August 9.

As part of the plea deal with Ruggs, prosecutors dropped one count of DUI causing substantial harm and two counts of reckless driving. If the case proceeded to trial on all the charges, he could have faced up to 50 years in prison.

“This outcome accomplished our three most important goals,” Clark County district attorney Steven B. Wolfson said on Wednesday. “One, convict Henry Ruggs of the strictest charge allowed by Nevada law for drunk driving; two, send Henry Ruggs to prison; and three, eliminate his ability to appeal his conviction and prison sentence.”

“Tina’s family members are the most important people in this process, and I met with them several times before reaching this resolution,” Wolfson added.

Ruggs drove at high rate of speed with blood-alcohol level of 0.16

The accident happened early on Nov. 2, 2021. Police said that Ruggs, who was driving his Corvette Stingray with a female passenger, hit a Toyota RAV4. Ruggs hit speeds as high as 156 mph before he collided with the Toyota, knockin the vehicle 571 feet where it burst into flames. Tina Tintor, who was driving the truck, and her dog, Max, burned to death.

Ruggs refused to take a field sobriety test at the scene. However, a blood draw about two hours later indicated his blood-alcohol level was 0.16, twice the legal level in Nevada. The Raiders selected Ruggs, a former Alabama star, in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. But they released him immediately after the accident.