Judge says QB hasn't accepted full responsibilty for dogfighting
By BILL RANKIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/10/07
Richmond, Va. -- Michael Vick was sentenced Monday to 23 months in prison by a federal judge who found the fallen NFL star had not fully accepted responsibility for his conduct in a dogfighting operation.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson said he believed Vick had been less than candid in admitting to killing pitbulls that did not test well as fighting dogs.
The judge also noted that Vick had given contradictory statements to officials regarding his drug use while out on bond. Vick tested positive for marijuana in September shortly after entering a plea agreement.
Vick, wearing a black and white stripped prison jumpsuit, acknowledged to Hudson that he had made some bad decisions.
"I'm willing to deal with the consequences and accept responsibility for my actions," Vick told Hudson.
After Vick apologized to Hudson, his family and his children, Hudson told him he should also apologize "to the millions of young people who looked up to you."
Hudson called Vick's actions "cruel and inhumane" and said Vick played a major role by financing the dogfighting operation.
"You were a full partner and equally culpable," with his three co-defendants.
Vick also received three years probation.
Under Vick's plea agreement reached in August, he faced a potential sentence of between 12-18 months in prison but after finding Vick had not accepted responsibility, Hudson said his new guideline range was 18-24 months. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gill asked Hudson to sentence Vick at the high end of that range.
Vick's role was as serious as any other defendants in this case, Gill told Hudson. He funded the operation and used friends who were "dangerous" and "predisposed" to commit criminal acts Gill said.
"The only thing that makes them more dangerous is unlimited money," Gill said.
Vick initially denied personally killing any animals and told authorities that Phillips and Peace drown and hanged the dogs. But after prosecutors confronted Vick that his co-defendants said Vick played a more hands-on role in executing the dogs, Vick was given an FBI-administered polygraph test in October. An agent found that Vick was being deceptive. After the end of a five-hour interview, Vick broke down, his defense attorney, Billy Martin, told Hudson.
"If you want me to admit it, I did it all," Vick told the agent, according to Martin. "I did everything."
Hudson said Vick finally admitted killing two dogs by drowning and hanging.
23... MONTHS? God is there ANY Jusge that has a Spine these days >_<
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The article seems to have been updated since I posted the excerpt. Here's a few more tidbits from the current page:
Vick must serve 85 percent of his sentence, or 19-1/2 months. The earliest he could get out of prison is May 2009.
...
The sentence ended an eight month legal odyssey for Vick that saw him go from NFL star and the face of the Atlanta Falcons franchise to a prison inmate. The sentence on federal felony charges means Vick, suspended indefinitely by the NFL, won't play again until at least 2009. He still faces the league suspension. He has also been indicted in Virginia on state dogfighting charges and faces lawsuits from several banks. The Falcons are awaiting an arbitration ruling in an attempt to recoup $20 million in bonus money paid to Vick.
...
Vick, who reported to prison last month, also failed a test for marijuana in September that prompted Hudson to restrict the conditions of his release after a guilty plea and included electronic monitoring and a curfew.
Genius shouldn't have doped up there. Not that it probably matters all that much.
For those of you who are dismayed at his sentence, note that he is also looking at a huge amount of lost money, on top of his legal issues:
Vick's money losses: $142 million and counting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/10/07
A look at the staggering financial losses — totaling an estimated $142 million — incurred by Falcons quarterback Michael Vick:
$71 million: Salary in the final seven seasons of his Falcons contract, which the team is expected to terminate when salary-cap ramifications are resolved.
$50 million: Endorsement income lost over the next decade, according to an estimate by the University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center.
$19.97 million: Previously paid bonuses that an arbitrator has ruled the Falcons can recoup from Vick (a ruling currently being reviewed by U. S. District Judge David Doty in Minneapolis).
$928,073: Funds Vick put into an escrow account, as part of his plea agreement, to fund the care of about 54 pit bulls found on his property.
Total: $141,898,073
Note: Vick has been sued by three banks for alleged defaults on a total of $5.8 million in loans.
Remember folks, he gets to be tried in Virginia next for his violations of state law rather than federal law. That could give him another 2 - 3 years on top of this, to be served after the Feds are done with him. With luck, he will end up spending 4 years in prison and get out to find himself absolutely penniless and having to pay most of whatever income he can get to those he owes money to, anyway.
The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth. -- Wikipedia's No Original Research policy page.
I look forward to him getting out and getting back into the NFL to see if he still has it.
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it. Blank Yellow (NSFW)
havokeff wrote:I look forward to him getting out and getting back into the NFL to see if he still has it.
I'm sure he'll keep his numbers up leading the prison team.
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havokeff wrote:I look forward to him getting out and getting back into the NFL to see if he still has it.
I'm sure he'll keep his numbers up leading the prison team.
HA!
I just see that most people are writing his career off, yet they seem to miss people like Farve and Testaverde, Brad Johnson and Rich Gannon, QBs, not even half as physically gifted as Vick, playing late into their 30's and early 40's. Vick will probably be out in 2009 and will only be 30. he still has football left in him.
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it. Blank Yellow (NSFW)
havokeff wrote:HA!
I just see that most people are writing his career off, yet they seem to miss people like Farve and Testaverde, Brad Johnson and Rich Gannon, QBs, not even half as physically gifted as Vick, playing late into their 30's and early 40's. Vick will probably be out in 2009 and will only be 30. he still has football left in him.
Will the NFL let this puke back in, though? I'd think/hope they'd be under heavy pressure not to let him play, particularly since he's been convicted.
I highly doubt the NFL will ban him, and that leaves the decision up to the teams to decide for themselves. It is entirely possible one of them will pick him up if he’s able to keep in practice; this shit isn’t going to be big news in a couple years and he’ll be cheap.
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Anyone see that no-class move by some of his (former) teammates during the Falcons' game last night?
Falcons send messages to disgraced QB Vick during Monday night game
8 hours ago
ATLANTA - After Michael Vick was sentenced to nearly two years in prison, two of his former Atlanta Falcons teammates sent messages to the disgraced quarterback in Monday night's 34-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who played with Vick at Virginia Tech and in Atlanta, ran onto the field holding up a poster of Vick and played the game with "MV7" written on the shade under both eyes.
Late in the first quarter, receiver Roddy White pulled up his jersey after hauling in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Chris Redman, revealing a black shirt with the words "Free Mike Vick" in white letters.
"That was homemade. I did that myself," White said. "It ain't too much to say, you know. The team misses him and we really need him this season. There ain't too much more to say about it."
White appeared to be fighting his emotions.
Asked if the day had been emotional, White said simply "Yeah," before ending the interview.
Hall said the players wanted to show they were thinking of Vick as more than a football player.
"We did that for the simple fact we wanted to let him know we're still thinking about him," Hall said. "That was my personal thing for doing it.
"I don't want to say this franchise doesn't want to acknowledge the situation, but that's kind of the way you feel. All his pictures all gone, no more jerseys, no more nothing. We just wanted to let him know we're still thinking about him. We care about him as a human being, not just as a football player and as a running quarterback."
Vick was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison earlier Monday on his guilty plea to dogfighting charges. He will miss at least two full seasons while serving his time and is unlikely to play again for the Falcons.
Hall said he wanted to send "a tribute to Mike" but wanted to avoid any thought the Vick sentencing affected the team's play.
FSTargetDrone wrote:Anyone see that no-class move by some of his (former) teammates during the Falcons' game last night?
Michael Vick is hardly the only NFL (or NBA, MLB, NHL, etc.) athlete to be involved in dogfighting (or cockfighting, wife beating, babysitter rape, etc.). There's a thriving subculture within the NFL that participates in some of this shit. Michael Vick was dumb enough to get caught, that's the only difference between him and some other guys.
In Brazil they say that Pele was the best, but Garrincha was better
I'm not gonna get all pissy about his teammates pulling for him. Though I'd rather they got mad at him for fucking up their season, as opposed to being mad at the justice system for fucking up their season.
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Flagg wrote:I'm not gonna get all pissy about his teammates pulling for him. Though I'd rather they got mad at him for fucking up their season, as opposed to being mad at the justice system for fucking up their season.
I don't know, it just smells like they are annoyed that he's in prison with little thought as to why he's there, because if what he did. I guess it's too much to hope that they would be angry with him for participating in such a vile pastime, all other considerations aside.
Flagg wrote:I'm not gonna get all pissy about his teammates pulling for him. Though I'd rather they got mad at him for fucking up their season, as opposed to being mad at the justice system for fucking up their season.
I don't know, it just smells like they are annoyed that he's in prison with little thought as to why he's there, because if what he did. I guess it's too much to hope that they would be angry with him for participating in such a vile pastime, all other considerations aside.
A lot of those guys come from the same types of places he does. To them, and others, it might not be that vile. Putting a man in jail because he killed some dogs doesn't sit well with everyone.
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it. Blank Yellow (NSFW)
Sea Skimmer wrote:I highly doubt the NFL will ban him, and that leaves the decision up to the teams to decide for themselves. It is entirely possible one of them will pick him up if he’s able to keep in practice; this shit isn’t going to be big news in a couple years and he’ll be cheap.
Give it another year, and Al Davis will happily sign him on for Oakland.
When ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided, there can be no successful appeal back to bullets.
—Abraham Lincoln
People pray so that God won't crush them like bugs.
—Dr. Gregory House
Oil an emergency?! It's about time, Brigadier, that the leaders of this planet of yours realised that to remain dependent upon a mineral slime simply doesn't make sense.
—The Doctor "Terror Of The Zygons" (1975)
