Henry Ruggs III officially pleads guilty in fatal DUI case - ESPN

Former Las Vegas Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III pleaded guilty Wednesday in a 2021 drunken driving crash that killed a Las Vegas woman and her dog.

Ruggs, 24, pleaded guilty in Clark County District Court to one count of DUI resulting in death and one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. He faces three to 10 years in a Nevada state prison. A judge set his sentencing for Aug. 9. Ruggs will remain under house arrest with alcohol and location electronic monitoring devices until then.

Ruggs, dressed in a dark suit, spoke softly and was asked by Judge Jennifer Schwartz to speak up as he addressed the court. When asked to acknowledge details of the crash that resulted in Tina Tintor's death, Ruggs responded, «Yes, Your Honor.»

District Attorney Steven B. Wolfson said in a statement that the charge of driving under the influence resulting in death was «the most serious charge the law allows» when someone dies as the result of a drunken driver's actions. That charge, the statement said, was based virtually entirely on the result of a blood draw, which occurred at the hospital.

Ruggs' legal team had sought to suppress the results of the blood draw, arguing there was insufficient probable cause for a judge to approve it. Had a judge suppressed the blood draw, Wolfson's statement said, there was a «strong likelihood» that the DUI death charge would have been dismissed.

«I recognize this outcome is not sufficient to punish Ruggs for the loss the Tintor family has suffered,» the statement said, «but there was a legitimate concern that a court would have suppressed the result of the blood draw. We would have lost the felony DUI charge. We couldn't take that chance. This resolution sends Ruggs to prison for up to 10 years on