Raiders’ Henry Ruggs III Facing Minimum 2 Years in Prison Up to 20 Years, if Charged & Convicted in DUI Crash That Resulted in Death.

Amy Dash |

Nov 2, 2021

Las Vegas Raiders star wide receiver Henry Ruggs III could be facing an extremely serious felony if charged in connection with a fiery crash that allegedly resulted in someone’s death early Tuesday morning.

Several news outlets including TMZ Sports are reporting that police plan to charge the 22-year-old NFL star with DUI resulting in death after he was found on scene showing “signs of impairment,” following a frightening crash.

A charge of DUI resulting in death is a class “B” Felony, the second most severe Felony in Nevada. It not only carries a minimum term of two years in prison (up to 20), if convicted, but it is a non-probationable offense meaning anyone convicted goes directly to prison. A conviction could also result in a 3-year license revocation and 1 to 3 years of having an ignition interlock device on the car.

For Ruggs to be convicted on such a charge, prosecutors would need to prove that he was impaired by alcohol or a substance and that he caused the other driver’s death.

If he ends up being charged, Ruggs lawyers will have to either strike a deal, if one is available or argue that some other intervening factor caused the driver’s death, whether it was his own driving or a failure in the car that caused it to burst into flames, that is sufficiently separate from Ruggs’ colliding into it. The black boxes from the cars will likely need to be retrieved to ascertain if both or either party was speeding and of course, any alcohol or drug test results would be critical to proving whether Ruggs was actually impaired, above the legal limit.

TMZ first reported the fiery crash on Tuesday, saying that Ruggs was behind the wheel of his Chevrolet Corvette, “when he crashed into a Toyota Rav4 around 3:39 AM.” TMZ showed pictures of the Toyota on fire, saying it went up in flames following the collision.

Ruggs reportedly sustained non-life threatening injuries and was treated at a local hospital but the driver of the Toyota SUV reportedly died.

Hector Mejia of 8 News Now published this photo of the aftermath of the horrific crash.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Twitter that an NFL spokesman issued the following statement about Henry Ruggs: “Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victim of this horrific tragedy. We will continue to gather facts and monitor the matter under our policies, but our thoughts at this time are with those impacted by this devastating incident.”

The Raiders also issued a statement on Twitter.

Ruggs’ attorneys told TMZ Sports: “On behalf of our client Henry Ruggs III we are conducting our own investigation as of this writing and ask everyone to reserve judgment until all the facts are gathered.”

More to come on this very serious incident but expect Ruggs to be placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List if he is charged with the felony, until the case resolves. This means that if he is charged, he could be out for the season, unless a plea deal is worked out sooner or unless prosecutors decide not to charge him with such a serious crime.