Michael Vick indicted by federal grand jury...

When I said "majority," I meant majority of those whom get themselves into trouble.

It's where they got it from. :-D

I personally don't have a side, it was his decision to make. I just don't think the Falcons or the NFL should be in trouble too... and the media needs to back off.

-Colin

 

Ok, then I would agree with you.

I think that the league and the Falcons should have a stake in this as well. Not in a criminal sense, but as businesses the NFL and the Falcons should drop Vick just like Nike, Rawlings, Reebok and countless other sponsors are doing. Letting him stay in the league sends out the wrong message to many of the kids that are currently growing up in situations like Vick did. Some of those kids don't have many positive influences, but the NFL has the potential to be as much of one as many will have.

 

Understand something, gentlemen. Poverty does not cause criminal behavior. Witness the following people from poor families who made a difference:

Abraham Lincoln
Walter Washington, PhD.
Bill Cosby, PhD.
The Okies of the Great Depression who rose from a 17% unemployment rate, without welfare, to defeat Hitler and Tojo.
My Grandfather, who came to America in 1905 at 15 years old with nothing (and countless others).
Colonel Harland Sanders
Famous Amos

Character matters, and money does not buy that.

 

Its sort of chicken or the egg...

Either poverty has an influence on criminal behaviour or those with the predisposition for criminal behaviour are drawn to poverty.

Regardless, the examples you used above are few and far between. I also grew up poor and my armchair analysis reveals that the majority of my friends and family from that period have been frequent visitors to the pokey.

 

Dont worry about that, he WILL be doing time

I'm sure there are some pet lovers in prison who would be interested in "talking" to him

 

Theoretically speaking, would Vick find himself in the general population of a federal prison if convicted? I know that resort "prisons" exist for celebs who have to spend a few days in the clinker, but this is on an entirely different scale.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?id=2974225

More of Vick's "friends" have turned against him and he may possibly take a plea bargain of 1+ years.

 

That's the LEAST of his problems now. Boy, this guy sure knows how to get himself into trouble...

RMX

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293268,00.html

South Carolina Inmate Hits Michael Vick With '$63,000,000,000 Billion Dollar' Lawsuit Alleging Al Qaeda Ties

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Embattled NFL quarterback Michael Vick, facing federal charges related to his alleged participation in dogfighting, has been hit with a "$63,000,000,000 billion dollar" lawsuit filed by a South Carolina inmate who alleges the Atlanta Falcons star stole his pit bulls and sold them on eBay to buy "missiles from Iran," FOX News has learned.

Jonathan Lee Riches filed the handwritten complaint over "theft and abuse of my animals" on July 23 in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va.

Riches alleges that Vick stole two white mixed pit bull dogs from his home in Holiday, Fla., and used them for dogfighting operations in Richmond, Va. The complaint goes on to allege that Vick sold the dogs on eBay and “used the proceeds to purchase missiles from the Iran government.”

The complaint also alleges that Vick would need those missiles because he pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda in February of this year.

“Michael Vick has to stop physically hurting my feelings and dashing my hopes,” Riches writes in the complaint.

Riches wants $63 billion dollars “backed by gold and silver “ delivered to the front gates to the Williamsburg Federal Correctional facility in South Carolina. Riches is an inmate at the facility serving out a wire fraud conviction.
Related

FOXNews.com attempted to contact Vick, but neither he nor his spokesman could be reached for comment.

Vick's attorneys, meanwhile, are negotiating a plea deal with federal prosecutors before new dogfighting charges are filed next week, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

No plea agreement involving Atlanta Falcons quarterback Vick has been filed, according to the court clerk, FOX News has learned.

Vick was accused of being involved in a dogfighting ring called "Bad Newz Kennels" run on property he owned in Surry County, Va. In late July, Vick pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture in a Richmond, Va., court.

Vick could reach an agreement ahead of new charges expected to come down next week after two more of Vick's three co-defendants prepare to enter guilty pleas later this week. By reaching a plea agreement, Vick could avoid any additional charges.

FOX News' Ian McCaleb contributed to this report.

 

I find the lawsuit about selling his dogs on ebay for missiles funny or at least laughable at this point. BUT the rest of this mess is disturbing. How can people actually WATCH this stuff, watch dogs ripping each other apart and watch someone else body slam a dog to death let alone be the one doing it. Has society and certain (and i will say Hip-hop/Rap/Ghetto) Cultures desensitized people THAT much ? and if anyone feels that im in the wrong to "generalize" the hip-hop/Rap/Ghetto Cultures into a negative thing please look back at the NFL's own policy in which they Warn new players about the "dangers of the Hip-hop culture" There has been nothing positive or good about any of it and in fact a good portion ( im not saying all or MOST) of today's violent or most disturbing crimes can be linked to these cultures.

Im not saying an particular Ethnic group im saying the CULTURE itself-please dont get them confused.

an addtional point - Newark NJ the execution style slaying of 3 teens and attempted murder of a 4th.

Culture. That is what it all comes down to, these people are brought up to see these type of things as being ok and not a bad thing to do, they are brought up to allow this type of behavior to carry on and they will bring up their own to be and act just as they were.

 

this is ridiculous, why would somebody want to hurt those dogs? and then use them for fighting? its such a disturbing story, I almost feel bad for that phsyco

 

They are what they are. Deny it if you will. But, they are what they are and now, many of us are what they are. Sorry about that. Children learn respect from their fathers. Since there are none, you do the math.

 

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0817071vick1.html

"both men fingered Vick in the execution earlier this year of about eight dogs that performed poorly in test fighting sessions. Phillips and Peace each told investigators that Vick participated in killing the dogs, which were hung or drowned, and that the animals "died as a result of the collective efforts" of the trio."

 

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/08/20/vick/index.html

Looks like Vick is planning to make a plea agreement.

 

i just hope goodell keeps up with his new strict policies....vick shouldn't be able to play again in the nfl.

 

He would be dumb not to at this point. Their’s too much evidence against him plus who know what the investigators are not telling us about this case.

 

Didn't his lawyer say he wasn't involved?

Either his lawyer was lying or he just told an innocent man to plead guilty.

 

or Both!

 

new news....

(CNN) -- Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has accepted a plea deal that could send him to prison, ending a federal dogfighting prosecution that jeopardizes his pro football career, his lawyers said.


NFL star Michael Vick leaves a recent court appearance.

Vick will plead guilty to felony conspiracy next Monday, his defense attorneys said.


A status conference on the case is set for 3 p.m. Monday in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia. The court's docket shows that Vick will appear again next Monday morning before Judge Henry E. Hudson for a plea agreement hearing.

The U.S. Attorney's office said it is not commenting. All news of the plea agreement came from the defense.

"After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick asks that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors regarding the charges pending against him," lead defense attorney Billy Martin said in a statement.

"Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his action and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter," Martin's statement said.

Vick's attorneys have been negotiating with federal prosecutors over terms of the deal, which must be approved by the judge. While prosecutors can recommend a sentence, the decision ultimately rests with the judge.

The plea would help Vick avoid additional federal charges.

Federal prosecutors had offered a deal recommending an 18- to 36-month prison sentence. Vick's attorneys were trying to reduce that to less than a year, two sources told CNN earlier on Monday.

It was not immediately clear whether Vick's attorneys have heard back Monday from National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell's office. They wanted to clarify Vick's career options before entering into any deal with federal prosecutors, the sources said.

Vick's three codefendants in the dogfighting case have accepted agreements to plead guilty in exchange for reduced sentences.

If Vick backs out of the deal, he could face additional charges in the case when the grand jury convenes in Richmond. See a timeline of the case against Vick »

The NFL is considering what, if any, sanctions they should impose on the 27-year-old suspended Atlanta Falcons player.

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Court documents released last week showed that two of Vick's alleged partners said he helped kill dogs that didn't fight well, and that all three men "executed approximately eight dogs" in ways that included hanging and drowning.

The dogs were killed because they fared poorly in "testing" sessions in April at Vick's property in Virginia where the dogfighting venture was based, according to documents released following plea agreement hearings Friday for Purnell Peace, 35, of Virginia Beach, and Quanis Phillips, 28, of Atlanta. See what Vick's former co-defendants admitted »


A third man, Tony Taylor, 34, of Hampton, Virginia, already had his plea deal approved.

In the court documents, Peace and Phillips said that the money behind the Bad Newz Kennels dogfighting operation came "almost exclusively" from Vick, and they told prosecutors that other accusations in the 18-page indictment are true.

 

Why the fook would they do a plea with Vick? They have ALLLLL the evidence they need to get him the max sentence. They should not be doing any sort of plea, they should give him the full 12 inches right in the pooper.

He's "sorry for those he hurt"???? What about the freaking dogs. I wonder how the dogs he killed and maim feel/felt. And they are "negotiating" for less than a year? If I were the prosecutor I would tell him if he does not accept 3 years, I will go to trial.

His time in the NFL is over. I was reading an interesting opinion piece earlier where they suggested that Vick was given a hearing by the NFL/commissioner earlier this year where he was specifically asked if there was truth to the allegations. He emphatically said no. And since part of his please is *admitting* guilt, its a cinch for the NFL to state that he obviously lied during that original hearing, and is in breach of his contract and has been since that time. They were saying that the NFL may go after him for monies paid to him since the time of his hearing (which was during the draft). I dont know how long this piece of trash has been in the NFL but on the radio they suggested this could be a significant portion of what he's been paid to date.

I sure hope so - hope he gets beaten to a pulp in the can.

 

If you think prison is going to be a bad place for Vick, I think you are a little delusional (Black football star convicted of dog-fighting? I can't imagine many people who are going to have a better time there. The prison community doesn't exactly consider dog fighting a big deal.)

He isn't on trial for animal cruelty or killing dogs or whatever. The charges are for transporting "fighting" dogs across state lines and running a dog fighting ring. Whether or not he killed dogs is essentially irrelevant.

 

Have you ever been to prison? Its not a good time for ANYONE. Going from a multi-million dollar NFL contract to the pokey is about as big a swing as you can get.

As for the charges, they said that if it proceeds to trial, they may add on additional charges. I'm pretty sure they could win additional charges in a lawsuit, and they should. The guy deserves everything he gets and much much more.

 

Trials cost money and if they can get a conviction without spending the cash they will... It becomes a win/win for the DA as he doesnt incur the trial costs and gets to throw Vick in prison.

 

Negative. When public outrage is so pronounced, the DA should see that THIS is one of those cases you take to trial.

If he gets "let off" with a token sentence, there is going to be a lot of anger and fall-out for that DA.

 

While I do as well, it probably won't happen. He can certainly pay for protection and he's better fit than most...at least until he gets gang raped!

 

I don't think they should take public outrage into consideration. Most people are pissed off because of the execution of the dogs when the charges are for dogfighting. I doubt most people care about the dogfighting. If the pets are cute and furry, people will always feel sorry for the animals. I never hear anyone talking about a pet snake being killed making the news...