And unlike this cat, he probably didn't even give them a fair trial before being found guilty by a jury of their peers.
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.
___
Associated Press writer Dionne Walker contributed to this report.
if they think it’ll get them a super bowl ring, you can bet your ass they would... which is almost as sick as the crime itself...
They made these dogs vicious - complete with raising more through a “rape stand”. They put the female in on a stand that locked them in using metal. When she was exhausted from fighting the “rape stand” they’d send in the male dogs and they’d rape her. It’s so barbaric.
Fast, Mikey, convert to Islam. He can tell them it is part of his culture.
http://www.vickdogchewtoy.com/
I love the poetic justice of dogs chewing on him for a change. The man is a thug and the NFL needs to sever all ties with him.
He’s a sadist.
He didn’t get Atlanta one............
BTW, anybody see where Odell Thurman and another player are pursuing legal action in order to reinstate themselves, citing ADA provisions regarding alcoholics? I'll see if I can scare up a link.
very good point... : )
What do you think of dear hunters?
Oh, deer!!!
Yeah, you know there’s been a lot of tongue-in-cheek punditry about this case.
Some sarcastic pundits said that if Vick had simply murdered a few people he wouldn’t be under the scrutiny. The notion being that the public is getting more upset over the dog deaths than is normal.
I say...not so. Although for a while I had a concern that maybe Vick was only financing the operation instead of being actually involved in dog fights and/or dog killing. In fact I still worry about this as the two testifying against him aren’t exactly pillars of society.
Not that financing the disgusting sport of dog fighting isn’t bad enough but it’s not as bad as actually killing those dogs. and like you said, go to hell, couldn’t they just have put a bullet through these dogs’ heads? They had to electrocute and hang them? I mean there’s something really heinous about this and consider me part of the American public that thinks this “sports hero” needs to lose his job.
don’t sell al davis short..and he IS millions in the bank for whoever he plays for, regardless of team record..
“What do you think of deer hunters?’
All for ‘em. Much more humane way for them to die than as a hood ornament on my Explorer.
“gets 12-18 months in the pokey. He deserves so much more.”
he’ll get the “pokey” and i hope the pokey is 6’6” and vick is the pokett on this one...nice ass vick
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