Current:Home > reviewsEx-Las Vegas Raider Henry Ruggs sentenced to 3-plus years in prison for fatal DUI crash in Nevada -Blueprint Wealth Network
Ex-Las Vegas Raider Henry Ruggs sentenced to 3-plus years in prison for fatal DUI crash in Nevada
View
Date:2025-04-25 08:58:05
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former Las Vegas Raiders player Henry Ruggs was sentenced Wednesday to at least three years in a Nevada prison for killing a woman in a fiery crash while driving his sports car drunk at speeds up to 156 mph on a city street nearly two years ago.
“I sincerely apologize,” the former first-round NFL draft pick said as he stood for sentencing in Las Vegas after pleading guilty in May to felony DUI causing death and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, a charge carrying a six-month jail sentence that will be folded in with his three-to-10-year prison term.
Ruggs, now 24, was cut by the Raiders while he was still hospitalized following the predawn crash on Nov. 2, 2021. The collision killed Tina Tintor and her dog, Max, and injured Ruggs’ passenger, Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington, his fiancee and mother of their daughter.
“I have no excuses,” Ruggs said, citing pain the case has caused his family, teammates and Tintor’s family. Ruggs said that after prison, he intends to counsel others “about the dangers of driving at unsafe speed and driving and drinking.”
Tintor’s mother, Mirjana Komazec, offered grief, grace and memories of “what it was like to hug and embrace her, knowing we will never be able to kiss her on her forehead or tell her how much we love her and how absolutely proud of her we are,” she said in a statement read in court by Tintor’s cousin, David Strbac.
“We pray that Henry Ruggs is blessed with the opportunity to be able watch his beautiful daughter grow into the amazing woman she can be,” Komazec’s statement said. “And we pray that this terrible accident inspires positive change in the world. We pray that we all take away the importance of looking out for one another, remembering everyone we meet is another human’s loved one.”
Kilgo-Washington and a group of friends and supporters watched as Ruggs, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie, was handcuffed by a court officer when Clark County District Court Judge Jennifer Schwartz read the sentence. Ruggs was then led away. Ruggs had remained free on house arrest since shortly after the crash.
In court filings ahead of the sentencing, Ruggs’ attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, included letters from high school administrators and teachers in Montgomery, Alabama, who praised Ruggs, and a testimonial from Democratic Alabama state Rep. Phillip Ensler.
“Mr. Ruggs is a man of good character who made a terrible mistake,” the attorneys said in the presentencing memorandum. “His remorse is deep and sincere.”
His plea deal avoided a trial that Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said posed obstacles for conviction because Ruggs was not administered a field sobriety test following the crash and his defense attorneys argued that Ruggs’ blood-alcohol test was improperly obtained at the hospital.
Wolfson, a Democrat, said the blood test provided “virtually” the only proof that Ruggs was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. It revealed that Ruggs had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16% — twice the legal limit in Nevada — after the rear-end wreck ignited a fire in Tintor’s Toyota Rav 4.
Kilgo-Washington also was injured in Ruggs’ demolished 2020 Chevrolet Corvette. Prosecutors said Ruggs suffered a leg injury, and Kilgo-Washington received an arm injury. Kilgo-Washington was not cooperative with prosecutors as a victim in the case.
Wolfson had said Ruggs would face a mandatory minimum of two years in prison if convicted and could get more than 50 years. The district attorney said investigators learned that Ruggs spent several hours drinking with friends at a sports entertainment site and golfing venue, and may have been at a friend’s home for several more hours before he and Kilgo-Washington headed home.
Tintor was a Serbian immigrant who friends and family members said graduated from a Las Vegas high school, worked at a Target store, wanted to become a computer programmer and was close to obtaining her U.S. citizenship. The family statement called Max her best friend.
“The sentence isn’t going to bring Tina back,” Farhan Naqvi, an attorney who represented Tintor’s family, said outside the courtroom. “What we’re hoping for, more than anything, is that other deaths can be prevented from driving under the influence and reckless driving. It ruins lives. It destroys families.”
veryGood! (56491)
Related
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Influencer sentenced to 5 years for COVID relief fraud scheme used to fund her lavish lifestyle
- Removal of Rio Grande floating barriers paused by appeals court
- 'All day hydration': Gatorade expands sports drink brand with new Gatorade Water
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Alabama deputy fatally shot dispatch supervisor before killing himself, sheriff says
- German lawmakers approve a contentious plan to replace fossil-fuel heating
- 3-year-old fatally shoots toddler at Kentucky home
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- Peep these 20 new scary movies for Halloween, from 'The Nun 2' to 'Exorcist: Believer'
Ranking
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Judge orders Louisiana to remove incarcerated youths from the state’s maximum-security adult prison
- Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition defeats a no-confidence motion against the health minister
- Is it India? Is it Bharat? Speculations abound as government pushes for the country’s Sanskrit name
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Why is the current housing market so expensive? Blame the boomers, one economist says.
- Cash App, Square users report payment issues amid service outage
- Migrant girl, 3, on bus from Texas died of pneumonia, intestinal disease, autopsy finds
Recommendation
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
Maren Morris Seemingly Shades Jason Aldean's Controversial Small Town Song in New Teaser
Many people want thicker hair. Here's how experts say you can get it.
Former British police officers admit they sent racist messages about Duchess Meghan, others
In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
From piñata to postage stamp, US celebrates centuries-old Hispanic tradition
Horrified judge sends Indianapolis cop to prison for stomping defenseless man's face
Hong Kong closes schools as torrential rain floods streets, subway station