Vick indicted on dogfighting charges

[Dro]

Horrible story:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/f ... index.html

The indictment alleges that the 27-year-old Vick and his co-defendants began a grisly dogfighting operation in early 2001 in which dogs fought to the death -- or close. Losing dogs were sometimes killed by electrocution, drowning, hanging or gunshots.

Arguably the most high-profile player in the game.

[[Q]]

so he'll probably be out for the season with the way things have been going.

[shadowgrin]

Bad Newz Kennels

Nice.

I wonder how he's going to buy himself out of this one.

[cyanide]

Man, that's a horrible story. If guilty, I hope he gets the full 6 years.

[Indy]

I bet the Falcons feel pretty stupid for trading Matt Schaub for pennies now.

For those non-football fans, Schaub was the promising backup to Vick in Atlanta.

Oh and Dro, Peyton Manning is most certainly the most high-profile player in the NFL. 4-5 years ago, you were right but not anymore.

[Dro]

I bet the Falcons feel pretty stupid for trading Matt Schaub for pennies now.

For those non-football fans, Schaub was the promising backup to Vick in Atlanta.

Oh and Dro, Peyton Manning is most certainly the most high-profile player in the NFL. 4-5 years ago, you were right but not anymore.

I did say arguably

In some respects, I agree with you. Peyton does have the advertisements and the SNL skits, but I still see more Vick jerseys than any other player.

[BigKaboom2]

Oh and Dro, Peyton Manning is most certainly the most high-profile player in the NFL.

I wouldn't say "certainly". I think most people would agree that Tomlinson is the best player in the league right now (on offense, at least; possibly overall), but Peyton is more famous due to his awful, awful commercials, his Super Bowl ring, and the fact that he's a QB.

Depends on your definition of high-profile, I guess - LT has every worthwhile single-season offensive record to himself (points, touchdowns, rushing touchdowns) and is the only player ever to rush for 1000 yards and receive 100 passes in a season.

Definitely not Vick though - sorry Dro.

[Jamespeso]

I'm mixed. I hope he pays a price for this but I enjoy watching him play football. But after something like this he doesn't deserve any money if that's the way he acts and handles himself.

[JT_55]

I'm mixed. I hope he pays a price for this but I enjoy watching him play football. But after something like this he doesn't deserve any money if that's the way he acts and handles himself.

Well, look at it this way. Do you think you would care if some no name guy was doing this? I bet most people would like to see the guy in jail. But that the problem with celebrities and famous athletes. They get more slack than others but some certainly don't deserve it.

[maceo24]

Hate to be the pessimistic ass of the lot, but with the antics of his younger brother, can you be THAT surprised? Little brothers get their material from somewhere...

I am really getting tired of these guys who have everything throwing away what we would give our left testicles for half of. Somewhere along the line they need to realize that theyre just athletes.

[Jamespeso]

I'm mixed. I hope he pays a price for this but I enjoy watching him play football. But after something like this he doesn't deserve any money if that's the way he acts and handles himself.

Well, look at it this way. Do you think you would care if some no name guy was doing this? I bet most people would like to see the guy in jail. But that the problem with celebrities and famous athletes. They get more slack than others but some certainly don't deserve it.

There is no doubt in my mind if he was a no-name I'd have no problem seeing him go to jail. With Vick, he's going to get what he deserves. But he also delivers something to football in my mind. I enjoy watching him and he's my favorite player. Celebrities have this invincible feeling as if they can get away with anything. With so much to lose, I would tend to think the other way if I were in their positions. But they have been catered to so much through out their time, they start feeling above everyone, which is not true. Look at Jones from the NFL also. He messed up bad, he's going to get in trouble also.

[Anthony15]

Well Vick is told to sit out a year. I bet Shockley is gonna be a starter by week 8 for Falcons.

[Jeffx]

I've never seen such hatred for one professional athlete. You don't see these kind of protests when players beat their wives/girlfriends. IMO, a lot of the protesters are looking for their 15 minutes(I wonder if they eat meat or wear fur), especially politicians like Robert Byrd. This MFer was in the KKK, and he's opening his mouth?

I think Vick was involved, but in America, you're innocent until proven guilty. He's done with the Falcons, but eventually he'll hook up with another NFL team.

[Anthony15]

Yeah, now they're talking about racism involved. All Black people in Atlanta are coming out to support Vick, while white people in Atlanta are protesting against Vick. The violence of racism decreased in the south, but racism is still there.

[maceo24]

I'm a black guy.

Vick is guilty, he should do jail time for what he did. Along with anyone else who is involved to the level that he was. And if he really didnt know, then he should go to jail for gross ignorance of whats going on on your property. Either your guilty, or your a fucking idiot, Mike. Its your decision.

No more breaks, no more what ifs, you do the crime, you do the time. Whether your black, white, red, yellow, clear or aquamarine has no relevance to me.

And before any other black people say im not being loyal, STFU. I would be in jail already, I know that. If he wasnt a celebrity, there would be no protests, by either side. Being a black celebrity of his stature is generating the publicity, but at the end of the day, the police are throwing a guilty dog-fighter, or dog-fighter patron, in prison.

My two cents.

[Sauru]

i am sick of this crap, stupid vick supporters causing traffic, then vick protesters causing traffic. atlanta sucks ass for traffic as it is.

[JT_55]

Well, Vick agrees to a guilty plea. I know there are some law students here, can you tell me what a plea is? Does it mean that he admits he's wrong?

[Fresh8]

Yep, if you plea guilty - it means you are admitting to the crime. I think in this case, it's pretty serious so he faces jail time so he will be behind bars for at least a year. So basically, when someone pleads guilty it's usually in exchange for asking for a more leniant sentence. (And I'm under the impression it also means you skip all the court appearances and go straight to getting sentenced)

I'm just wondering if the court will decide to give him any special consideration since he is a pro athlete and he can argue that he needs to not be behind bars for a certain period of time. However, it's a serious offence, and I don't think the courts are going to allow him to get 'special treatment.' They may think about it though.

No matter what happens, his career is screwed.

It is not known what type of jail term Vick will receive, although the conspiracy charges he was facing are punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Since he's pleading guilty, I don't think he will get 5 years but his jail term could range anywhere in between a year and 4-5 years. He can get out early off course (Not sure how US system works) but it's still a lengthy time. More research into any kind of similar cases would probably give you a more definite estimate at his sentence.

[puttincomputers]

hey i just moved from the vt area and everyone is disgusted by this whole thing up there! vt has gone down hill since vick got there! his bro was a moron and a bunch of other guys who are supposed to be leaders are doin crazy illegal things now. makes you wonder what the deal is!

[JT_55]

Yep, if you plea guilty - it means you are admitting to the crime. I think in this case, it's pretty serious so he faces jail time so he will be behind bars for at least a year. So basically, when someone pleads guilty it's usually in exchange for asking for a more leniant sentence. (And I'm under the impression it also means you skip all the court appearances and go straight to getting sentenced)

I'm just wondering if the court will decide to give him any special consideration since he is a pro athlete and he can argue that he needs to not be behind bars for a certain period of time. However, it's a serious offence, and I don't think the courts are going to allow him to get 'special treatment.' They may think about it though.

No matter what happens, his career is screwed.

It is not known what type of jail term Vick will receive, although the conspiracy charges he was facing are punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Since he's pleading guilty, I don't think he will get 5 years but his jail term could range anywhere in between a year and 4-5 years. He can get out early off course (Not sure how US system works) but it's still a lengthy time. More research into any kind of similar cases would probably give you a more definite estimate at his sentence.

So...by admitting he's wrong, he will get less jail sentence and a small fine, as well as not wasting time with trial. Hmm...interesting. Thanks!

[Andreas Dahl]

Am I way off by saying that if he got a plea bargain, he had to agree to something requested by the prosecutors, like offering incriminating information about the other people involved? But haven't they all gotten their sentences? So, on what terms did he get his plea bargain? Or is it just enough to say "I'm guilty" and then you get off a lot easier?

[Anthony15]

Haha, its said he's gonna go to jail for 1-1.5 years. I highly doubt he'll comeback to NFL at all, and even if he does, not as a QB I hope.

[JT_55]

Am I way off by saying that if he got a plea bargain, he had to agree to something requested by the prosecutors, like offering incriminating information about the other people involved? But haven't they all gotten their sentences? So, on what terms did he get his plea bargain? Or is it just enough to say "I'm guilty" and then you get off a lot easier?

I'm not really sure what you mean, but I Wiki-ed "plea barrgain"...

Source

A plea bargain (also plea agreement, plea deal or copping a plea) is an agreement in a criminal case in which a prosecutor and a defendant arrange to settle the case against the defendant. The defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest (and often allocute) in exchange for some agreement from the prosecutor as to the punishment. A plea bargain can also include the prosecutor agreeing to charge a lesser crime (also called reducing the charges), and dismissing some of the charges against the defendant. In most cases, a plea bargain is used to reduce jail sentence time or fines associated to the crime being charged with. Under federal law, as of January 27, 2007, the maximum a plea bargains can reduce jail sentences and fines are 50 %.

Does that answer your question? I don't think Vick gave any info to the prosecutors, though.

[bigh0rt]

Vick had so many co-defendants ready to throw him under the bus that he didn't have to give any info to the prosecutors. Him copping a plea at this stage pretty much confirms that. I'm no dog lover or anything like that, but I hope they throw this loser away for the maximum 5 years allowed.

[Sauru]

Vick had so many co-defendants ready to throw him under the bus that he didn't have to give any info to the prosecutors. Him copping a plea at this stage pretty much confirms that. I'm no dog lover or anything like that, but I hope they throw this loser away for the maximum 5 years allowed.

yeah they dont care what vick has to say or who he can point a finger at, he was the main man. it was his house and everyone pointed to him as being the ring leader. with everyone else already agreeing to a plea in exchange for giving up testimonials on vick vick was screwed. the only reason it went so long was vicks lawyers were trying to get a deal for less than 1 year, which is what they offered.