Henry Ruggs III, a former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver, pleaded guilty to causing a fiery crash that resulted in the death of a 23-year-old woman and her dog in 2021.
Ruggs was behind the wheel of his car when he crashed into a Rav4 with Tina Tintor and her dog, Max, inside. He was driving at a speed of 156 mph and was drunk, with his alcohol level being twice the legal limit. His girlfriend, Je’nai Kilgo-Washington, also the mother of his child, was present in the car.
According to the plea agreement, the former NFL player, who will be sentenced on August 9, faces a prison sentence of three to 10 years.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said the terms of the plea agreement had accomplished three of the office’s most important goals, which included Ruggs not being able to appeal his conviction and sentence. Initially facing 50 years in prison, Ruggs’ plea bargain was intended to speed up the healing process for the family of the victims, according to his attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld.
Until Ruggs starts his sentence, he will remain under house arrest with alcohol and location monitoring devices. Wolfson revealed that Ruggs was not given a field sobriety test at the accident scene, and therefore he probably would not have been found guilty at trial. However, Ruggs’ lawyers argued that there was insufficient probable cause for the judge to approve the blood-alcohol test results, which made it impossible to prove he was under the influence.
Under the plea agreement, Ruggs’ other charges, including felony reckless driving, DUI causing substantial injury to Kilgo-Washington, and misdemeanor gun possession for having a loaded handgun in the vehicle after the accident, were dismissed.
Tintor’s family released a statement expressing that no punishment could bring back Tina and Max. However, they expressed their desire that everyone understands the lessons from this avoidable incident to prevent other families from experiencing similar tragedies.
