Michael Vick is off to court

The wheeling, the dealing, the backroom negotiations all came to a head on Friday as Michael Vick was very careful not to cop a plea for gambling.

Oh, Michael admitted to conspiracy to kill the dogs that were not up to snuff and Michael agreed that he bankrolled the operation for the Bad Newz Kennels to run the dog fighting operation, but he did not admit to gambling.

You should not be surprised that for the price of his very high priced lawyers, Michael was trading some time in jail for the possibility to once again play in the NFL.

The statement said that when the kennel’s dogs won, the gambling proceeds were generally shared by Vick’s three co-defendants — Tony Taylor, Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips.

“Vick did not gamble by placing side bets on any of the fights. Vick did not receive any of the proceeds of the purses that were won by Bad Newz Kennels,” the summary said. source

Goodell drops the hammer

While this may be an important tactic that Vick’s lawyers were using, it did not appear to impress Commissioner Roger Goodell at all. It took Goodell about 2 seconds to reach a decision on Michael Vick.

In disciplining Vick, commissioner Roger Goodell said Vick’s admitted conduct was “not only illegal but also cruel and reprehensible” and regardless whether he personally placed bets, “your actions in funding the betting and your association with illegal gambling both violate the terms of your NFL player contract and expose you to corrupting influences in derogation of one of the most fundamental responsibilities of an NFL player.”

Goodell freed the Falcons to “assert any claims or remedies” to recover $22 million of Vick’s signing bonus from the 10-year, $130 million contract he signed in 2004. source

While this is good to see and well overdue, at least the NFL and Goodell stepped up and have remained consistently tough on any troublemakers in the NFL.

More Troubles for Michael

As if this was bad enough, the Judge in the case still has a lot to say about this episode as well. Michael’s troubles may be far from over.

In the plea agreement, the government committed to recommending a sentence on the low end of the federal sentencing guideline range of a year to 18 months. However, the conspiracy charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, and the judge is not bound by any recommendation or by the guidelines.

Hudson has a reputation for imposing stiff sentences, according to lawyers who have appeared in his court. The judge will set a sentencing date at Monday’s hearing.

Michael Vick rundown

So we have Michael submitting a plea (plea agreement.pdf).
Michael denying he gambled.
Michael admitting conspiracy.
Michaeal suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
Michael going to jail for 1 year to 18 months for the dog fighting and maybe much longer for the conspiracy.

It is very hard to see Michael Vick ever again playing in the NFL!

NFL Football Fan Question Did this go down the way you thought?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Michael Vick goes bye bye

Michael is hurting

The talk had already begun. Vick will get off, because he is rich.

The moaning increased. It seems to be the attitude of all time that the rich can walk off scott free.

Well, it may not be that simple after all. True, Michael will have a high powered legal defense team including Washington D.C. attorney Billy Martin. No, not that Billy Martin. This Billy Martin would be All Pro if Lawyers had such a thing.

Maybe they do. It is called high fees.

Michael Vick gets on his hands and knees

So can Michael plea bargain his way out of this?

Since Michael put up the money for the operation that would make him the kingpin, so there is realistically no one for him to give up.

Nevertheless, the two reasons why Vick may still be able to make a deal are: First, there would be a value to both sides if Vick is the first defendant to try and do a deal — the government would be more likely to accept such a deal than if he were the last defendant to seek a deal. Second, the government knows that if it has to actually try Vick, it will be going up against a high-powered defense team, including prominent D.C. attorney Billy Martin, whereas, if they do a deal with Vick and take the other three defendants to trial, they will not be facing anywhere near as well-financed a legal defense. source

So what happens to Michael if he is convicted?

If he were convicted of everything in the indictment, he could get a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine (plus restitution), as opposed to the six years and $350,000 that has been widely reported. The reason he can’t get more than the five years and $250,000 is because he’s been charged with only one count that contains one conspiracy. I have personally confirmed the five-year, $250,000 maximum with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Richmond, which is prosecuting the case.

Michael Vick stays home

In the meantime; the judge put some severe restrictions tied to the bail.

The judge’s travel restriction places 49 states off limits to Michael Vick. This means that even in the unlikely event that NFL commissioner Goodell’s investigation ends with a reinstatement of Vick to his team, he simply could not function as the quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons.

You would expect his lawyers to argue to allow him to travel to other states for football games, which is his livelihood.

You would also expect that the NFL would suspend him from playing anyway.

Why would Michael go for the plea bargain route?

The government charged him with one count that contains one conspiracy.

That one conspiracy, according to the indictment, was to violate two different federal statutes. The two statutes he has been charged with conspiring to violate are 1) participating in dogfighting across state lines and 2) traveling across state lines for the purpose of gambling (this is known as violating the “Travel Act”). Oddly enough, he is not charged with actually violating the dogfighting statute or the Travel Act — he is only charged with a conspiracy to violate those two statutes.

The government also threatened to charge him with the actual act of violating the statutes and possible racketeering, which contains a sentence up o 20 years.

The feds announced that they will be filing a superceding indictment in August. Since there was only one count in the original indictment, I would expect that there will be multiple counts added that could elaborate on the dogfighting and gambling aspects of the crime and, to make matters worse, there could be racketeering charges filed against Vick based on the gambling aspects of dogfighting.

Oh, Michael Vick, you are in some deep doggie doo this time.

NFL Football Fan Question Would you take the plea bargain?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Michael Vick – in the dog days of summer, he may plea bargain

Michael Vick is barely holding on to either the football or his job

The Feds are involved now, so it looks like trouble for Michael Vick.

The Associated Press obtained documents on a federal search of the Vick property and it turned up all kinds of gory evidence pointing to dog fighting.

The fights were staged by the Bad Newz Kennels.

The prize money went into the thousands and people came from as far as Texas to view and bet on the fights.

Fights would end when one dog died or with the surrender of the losing dog, which was sometimes put to death by drowning, strangulation, hanging, gun shot, electrocution or some other method, according to the documents. The property has an aboveground swimming pool, and investigators were seen looking into its murky water Friday.

During a June search of the property, investigators uncovered the graves of seven pit bulls that were killed by members of “Bad Newz Kennels” following sessions to test whether the dogs would be good fighters, the documents alleged. source

This story is just too sick.

The documents make no mention of Michael Vick.

But just a guess here, when the Feds come a calling, they mean business.

NFL Football Fan Question How long before the evidence points to Michael and Goodell has to suspend him?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Michael Vick is in for a Dog fight!