This is coming after the American football star pleaded guilty to driving his sports car drunk at speeds up to 156 mph on a city street before causing a fiery crash that killed a woman and her dog.
The 24-year-old former first-round NFL draft pick will avoid trial and is expected to be sentenced on August 9. Ruggs was convicted of felony DUI causing death, will go to prison, and won’t be able to appeal his conviction and sentence, the elected district attorney, a Democrat, said in a lengthy written statement. “When someone dies as the result of a drunk driver’s actions, this is the most serious charge the law allows.”
Ruggs declined to comment as he and a group of about nine people left the courthouse following his brief court appearance. He remains free pending sentencing. ESPN reported that until Ruggs begins his sentence, he will stay under house arrest with location monitoring devices.
The Raiders dropped Ruggs while he was still hospitalized following the predawn November 2, 2021, crash that killed 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her pet dog, Max.
Tintor’s mother, brother, uncle and several other family members were in the courtroom Wednesday with their attorneys, Paul Albright and Farhan Naqvi.
In a statement issued after the hearing, the family thanked the district attorney’s office for its work and said they look forward to putting the case behind them.