Posted on 08/17/2007 3:15:30 PM PDT by WarEagle
RICHMOND, Va. - It's up to Michael Vick now. His last two co-defendants pleaded guilty Friday and implicated Vick in bankrolling gambling on dogfights. One of them said the Atlanta Falcons quarterback helped drown or hang dogs that didn't do well.
With his NFL career in jeopardy and a superseding indictment adding more charges in the works, that left Vick with a hard choice: Cutting his own deal to hold jail time under a year or go to trial and sit through detailed descriptions of the ghastly operation known as "Bad Newz Kennels."
Quanis Phillips of Atlanta and Purnell Peace of Virginia Beach entered plea agreements and agreed to testify against Vick. A third member of the dogfighting ring, Tony Taylor, struck a similar deal last month.
Vick's lawyers have been negotiating with prosecutors. One of Vick's attorneys, Lawrence Woodward, attended the plea hearings but declined to answer questions about the progress of the negotiations as he left the courthouse.
"Did you conspire with these folks to sponsor a dogfighting venture?" U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson asked Peace.
"Yes, sir," he replied.
As part of his plea agreement, Phillips signed a statement that said Vick joined in executing at least eight dogs that didn't do well in test fights by various methods, including hanging and drowning.
"Phillips agrees and stipulates that these dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts of Peace, Phillips, and Vick," the statement said.
Phillips and Peace also backed up Taylor's assertion that Vick was involved in gambling.
"The `Bad Newz Kennels' operation and gambling monies were almost exclusively funded by Vick," according to statements by the two men.
Those allegations alone could trigger a lifetime ban under the NFL's personal conduct policy.
Commissioner Roger Goodell has barred Vick from the Falcons' training camp but has withheld further action while the league conducts its own investigation. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league had no comment on the latest pleas.
Peace and Phillips pleaded guilty to the same charge facing Vick: conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and conspiracy to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture. Sentencing was set for Nov. 30.
The offense is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The men will get credit for accepting responsibility and cooperating with the government but would be penalized for animal brutality.
Peace remains free until sentencing, but Hudson found that Phillips violated the terms of his release by failing a drug test and ordered him jailed.
About 30 animal-rights activists protested quietly outside the courthouse. Afterward, as police officers cleared the scene, protesters continued waving large pictures of a mutilated dog.
"This is one dogfighting ring that's been annihilated," said John Goodwin, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States.
The four defendants all initially pleaded not guilty, and Vick issued a statement saying he looked forward to clearing his name.
The case began in April with a search of Vick's property in Surry County, a few miles from Vick's hometown of Newport News. Investigators seized dozens of pit bulls, some of them injured, and equipment typically used in dogfighting operations.
The four men were indicted July 17.
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Associated Press writer Dionne Walker contributed to this report.
This guy DESERVES what he gets.
I can’t imagine him anything less than this in his PERSONAL LIFE with women or men - whatever his preference is. Vick is EVIL.
I suspect he's going to get a lifetime ban from the NFL. Goodell can't lose if he makes that decision.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again..the Falcons traded the wrong QB..but at least now he has street credibility..I’m sure he cherishes that more than all the money he’s lost and going to lose..
Drown or hang???? Good grief. When I lived in the country, we sometimes had to kill dogs who were chicken or livestock killers (a virtually unstoppable vice) but we just shot them and they never knew what happened.
Granted, these were vicious dogs, but shooting would have been just fine.
With his NFL career in jeopardy?????????????? His career is OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not if he pleas down, and gets 12-18 months in the pokey. He deserves so much more.
That humans derive pleasure from this stuff is disturbing.
“He deserves so much more.”
ABSOLUTELY!
He should also be BANNED from the NFL - forever.
I doubt that..he’ll plead, get 8-12 months and some team somewhere will give him a second chance..the same as any employer would do for the average joe, right??
“That humans derive pleasure from this stuff is disturbing.”
That’s an understatement.
They’re SICKOS!
There is something deeply wrong with a person who would do this. This is a series character flaw.
I remember my Father-in-law once found his prized chickens dead or dying out in the backyard, feathers all over. He just went into the house, grabbed his shotgun, went outside shot the dog and went back inside an watched TV...............
“Too many kids look up to these thugs .”
Exactly!
He’s a horror.
I don’t think ANY NFL owner will do that........
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