Ex-Las Vegas Raider Henry Ruggs is serving sentence for vehicular manslaughter at Nevada prison camp where inmates sleep in dorms and work in forest or as ranch hands
Ex-Las Vegas Raider Henry Ruggs is serving a sentence for vehicular manslaughter at a Nevada prison camp where inmates work as “ranch hands,” responsible for activities such as growing alfalfa, raising cattle and training horses.
Ruggs, 25, was sentenced on August 9, 2023 after pleading guilty to driving under the influence that led to the murder of 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog in November.
The former NFL player was transferred Tuesday to the Stewart Conservation Camp in Carson City, a minimum-security facility in Northern Nevada, to serve the remainder of his three-to-10-year sentence for his fatal DUI crash.
Ruggs was driving 155 miles per hour and his blood alcohol level was 0.16, almost twice the legal limit. His sentence initially began in August at High Desert State Prison near Indian Springs.
The Conservation Camp program was founded in 1958 when Nevada State Prison inmates were invited to conduct conservation-related activities, including firefighting.
Ruggs, 25, was sentenced on August 9, 2023 after pleading guilty to driving under the influence that led to the murder of 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog in November.
The former NFL player was transferred Tuesday to the Stewart Conservation Camp in Carson City, a minimum-security facility in Northern Nevada, to serve the remainder of his 3- to 10-year prison sentence for his fatal DUI crash.
The Conservation Camp program was established in 1958 when Nevada State Prison inmates performed conservation-related activities, including firefighting.
In 1978, the Stewart Conservation Camp (SCC) was established.
The majority of inmates at the facility work for the Nevada Division of Forestry and are assigned to a 12-person fire crew, according to their website.
Inmates can also be assigned to work at the Silver State Industries, which runs the ranch, dairy and the Wild Horse Training Program, where inmates train horses for adoption by the public.
The ranch operates commercial dairy products, grows alfalfa, raises and raises livestock and cares for horses.
The conservation camp also offers classes to prepare for the General Education Development (GED) test and various self-help and treatment programs conducted in the evenings by medical and mental health personnel.
Ruggs pleaded guilty last week to charges of felony DUI causing death and a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter, telling a judge he would admit to driving drunk at 155 mph
Former NFL player Henry Ruggs is seen in court on Tuesday, May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada
A Chevrolet Corvette owned by then-Raiders wide receiver Ruggs III is shown on a flatbed truck after a fatal crash on South Rainbow Boulevard on November 2, 2021
Shortly after officers arrived, firefighters began extinguishing the fire
While officers were coordinating the road closures, loud bangs and bangs came from Tintor’s car
Ruggs could have spent 50 years behind bars, but reached a plea deal in May, agreeing to plead guilty to one felony count of driving under the influence.
Ruggs, who had played for the Las Vegas Raiders, apologized to the family of Tina Tintor, who died in the accident along with her dog Max.
βTo Ms. Tintor’s parents and family, I sincerely apologize for the pain and suffering my actions on the morning of November 2, 2021 have caused you, your family and those who knew Ms. Tina and Max,β said he told the court in August.
βI have disappointed my family, my teammates and those who believed in me with my actions and hurt so many.β
A coroner ruled that Tintor was burned in the accident. Ruggs was apparently traveling at 155 mph seconds before the accident and crashed into the rear of Tintor’s car, a Toyata, at 125 mph.
The speed limit in the area was 45 mph and Ruggs had a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit when he crashed around 3:30 a.m.
Hours before the crash, Ruggs was filmed partying at a TopGolf in Vegas.
Ruggs posted $150,000 bail to be released from jail after leaving the hospital following the crash and has been under house arrest for 18 months under strict conditions, including alcohol tests.
The 24-year-old killed Tina Tintor, 23, and her dog Max after they flew down Rainbow Boulevard, rear-ending the 23-year-old and leaving her car in a fiery wreck
Tina Tintor, 23, ‘died in November 2021 from thermal injuries resulting from a motor vehicle collision’
The wide receiver was released by the Las Vegas Raiders less than 24 hours after his arrest
Ruggs (left) and his girlfriend, Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington (right), were injured in the wreck
The Raiders released him after the November clash. Ruggs was the team’s first-round Draft pick in 2020 out of Alabama.
He grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, and won an NCAA championship with the Crimson Tide before being drafted by the Raiders in 2020.
He signed a four-year rookie contract reportedly worth more than $16 million and had blossomed into a star NFL player before the crash. Records show he bought a $1.1 million home not far from the crash site in April 2021.
Ruggs’ girlfriend, Je’nai Kilgo-Washington, was injured in the crash. The couple have a daughter together, who was born in May 2020.
“I promise to be the father and the man God intended me to be,” Ruggs said in court before being led away in handcuffs to begin his sentence.