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Former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for a deadly crash in Las Vegas.
Ruggs, 24, pleaded guilty in May to one count of driving under the influence resulting in death, a felony, and one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the 2021 crash, which killed a 23-year-old woman and her dog.
Judge Jennifer Schwartz said this was “one of the more tragic cases that I’ve seen” before formally sentencing Ruggs in Clark County District Court on Wednesday.
The judge said her sentence adhered to the terms of the plea agreement, under which Ruggs will be eligible for parole after three years.
Henry Ruggs addressed the court prior to his sentencing
He apologized to the family of Tina Tintor, who died from thermal injuries in the crash along with her dog, Max.
ABC News reports Ruggs said he’s spent the past 21 months searching to “find answers to explain my selfish behavior on that day.”
“I have no excuse and pray that accepting responsibility and my guilty plea can allow me to begin the healing process and to allow everyone involved to heal also,” he said.
In a statement read by a family representative prior to the sentencing, Tintor’s family said she was “killed in the most tragic yet preventable way.”
“Our Tina was special to us in that she was unlike any other. Her perspective on the world made everyone around her better,” the family said.
Ruggs was driving 156 mph seconds before he slammed his Corvette into the back of a Toyota SUV in Las Vegas, according to police.
ABC News reports Ruggs refused a field sobriety test, according to police, but prosecutors said he had a blood alcohol level of 0.161% — more than twice the legal limit in Nevada.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped several other charges, including felony reckless driving.
The Clark County District Attorney’s Office said it agreed to a plea deal because there was a “legitimate concern” that the court would have suppressed the result of the blood draw and prosecutors could have lost the felony DUI charge, the most serious charge Ruggs faced.
Henry Ruggs was released by the Raiders hours after the crash.
“This resolution sends Ruggs to prison for up to 10 years on a felony DUI conviction and brings closure to the Tintor family,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in May.
The former first-round pick said in court Wednesday he is now committed to “creating greater awareness” about the dangers of driving impaired and excessive speed.
Dangerous driving behaviors — from impaired driving to running red lights to speeding — rose last year, reversing declines since 2018, according to a new survey from the American Automobile Association. Motor vehicle fatalities increased 10.5% to almost 43,000 in 2021, AAA said, citing federal estimates.
Driving under the influence of booze was up 24% and cannabis climbed 14% — the biggest risers among the reckless behaviors studied. Speeding also showed a sharp increase, AAA said.