Former NFL player Henry Ruggs III was sentenced to three to ten years for killing a woman and her dog in a fiery car crash while he was driving under the influence.
The former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver will be eligible for parole after just three years following his guilty plea in the slaying of 23-year-old Tina Tintor.
Ruggs, now 24, was suspended from the Raiders following the November 2021 slaying in Las Vegas.
A drunken Ruggs slammed his Corvette into the victim at 156 mph. Tintor's car burst into flames, causing Tintor and her dog to burn to death. A witness said he heard screams coming from inside the car.
Ruggs, whose blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit after a night of partying, was combative with police and refused to take a field sobriety test. He was released after paying a $150,000 bail.
Later, Ruggs' lawyers fought to have the blood evidence thrown out, saying there was no probable cause without a field sobriety test.
Prosecutors ultimately agreed to a plea deal, citing the risk of the blood evidence being discounted.
The district attorney said Tintor's family was involved in the plea, which drastically reduced Ruggs' sentence from over 50 years to a maximum of 10.
"I recognize this outcome is not sufficient to punish Ruggs for the loss the Tintor family has suffered,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said, “but there was a legitimate concern that a court would have suppressed the result of the blood draw."
Police also found a loaded gun in Ruggs' car, but a misdemeanor charge for possession was dropped in his plea deal.
Ruggs pled guilty to DUI resulting in death, a felony, and misdemeanor manslaughter.
In court, he apologized to the victim's family and said he had "no excuse."
"To the parents and family of Ms. Tintor, I sincerely apologize for the pain and suffering," Ruggs said. “My actions are not a true reflection of me.”
Tintor's family also read a statement, saying she "only saw the beauty and the life in every soul."
“Every parent’s worst nightmare is to create a beautiful child just to have her taken away at the hands of another’s negligence," Tintor's mother wrote.
