N.F.L.’s Vick Accepts Plea Deal in Dog-Fight Case

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/20/sports/football/20cnd-vick.html

August 20, 2007
N.F.L.’s Vick Accepts Plea Deal in Dog-Fight Case
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 20 — Michael Vick, the star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, has accepted a plea offer from federal prosecutors in a criminal case stemming from a dog-fighting ring that was run from a property Mr. Vick owned.

Mr. Vick will probably face a sentence of at least a year in prison under the deal. His future in the National Football League appears bleak.

Mr. Vick is expected to formally enter his plea on Aug. 27. The United States District Judge overseeing the case, Henry E. Hudson, announced the agreement at a status hearing in the case this afternoon.

Billy Martin, one of Mr. Vick’s defense lawyers, said in a written statement: “After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick asked that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors regarding the charges pending against him. Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter.”

Mr. Vick has been barred by the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, from appearing at the Falcons’ training camp since the league began its own investigation of the matter on July 24, a week after Mr. Vick was indicted in the case.

The N.F.L. said today in a written statement: “We are aware of Michael Vick’s decision to enter a guilty plea to the federal charges against him and accept responsibility for his conduct. We totally condemn the conduct outlined in the charges, which is inconsistent with what Michael Vick previously told both our office and the Falcons. We will conclude our own review under the league’s personal conduct policy as soon as possible. In the meantime, we have asked the Falcons to continue to refrain from taking action. pending a decision by the commissioner.”

The government, in their prosecution of the case, put tremendous pressure on Mr. Vick to accept a plea deal and not take the matter to trial.

On Friday, two of Mr. Vick’s co-defendants pled guilty in the case and agreed to testify against him. A third had pled guilty last month and agreed to testify, and prosecutors said they had three other cooperating witnesses.

The charges in Mr. Vick’s indictment carry a possible maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The plea deal probably calls for prosecutors to recommend a lighter sentence as long as Mr. Vick cooperates with the government’s investigation.

The two men who entered pleas on Friday, Purnell A. Peace and Quanis L. Phillips, signed lengthy statements which outlined Mr. Vick’s involvement in the dog fighting ring.

Mr. Phillips said that he, Mr. Peace and Mr. Vick killed about eight dogs that did not perform well by hanging and drowning them at a facility that Mr. Vick owned in Surry, Va., in April.

Both confirmed that the enterprise, Bad Newz Kennels, and the gambling associated with it were “almost exclusively funded by Vick.”

They also described numerous times when all four co-defendants traveled across state lines to sponsor dogs in fights.

Their pleas, along with that of Tony Taylor on July 30, prompted widespread speculation that Mr. Vick would accept a plea agreement.

Mr. Vick was believed to have been given until last Friday morning to agree to accept the plea deal, but that deadline passed without an announcement from either side.

The Falcons’ owner, Arthur Blank, told The Associated Press on Friday night, “It seems to be a pretty clear indication there will be some sort of plea entered.”

The government’s criminal case might not be on the only one Mr. Vick has to worry about. Gerald Poindexter, the state prosecutor for Surry County, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday that he plans to bring charges on Sept. 25 against Mr. Vick and others alleged to be connected to the dog-fighting ring.