Fresh Loaf

The Humane Society of the United States is bringing to Atlanta an anti-dogfighting program that it says was successful in Chicago. The idea is to use people from the community as advocates against dogfighting; to show that pit bulls and other breeds frequently targeted by dog fighters are better as loving companions; and to help law enforcement crack down on fighting rings.

More in the press release after the jump. (more…)

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A federal judge ruled today that former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is entitled to most of the $20 million in bonus money that he was paid by the team prior to his imprisonment on dogfighting convictions.

A special master had ruled in October that Vick had to return all the money to the Falcons. The NFL player’s union appealed that decision and U.S. District Judge David Doty of Minneapolis ruled that returning the money would violate the league’s collective bargaining agreement. He ruled that the league can only recoup bonus money, and only $3.75 million of the Vick money came from a signing bonus.

While the Falcons try to breathe life into their franchise, Vick remains in federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan. No word on whether he was able to watch the Super Bowl.

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October 2009.

That’s when a 29-year-old Michael Vick will be released from federal prison for bankrolling a dog fighting operation that will go down in history as one of the dumbest things a high-profile professional athlete has ever done.

$130 million.

That’s the contract Michael Vick threw away when he helped kill a half-dozen pit bulls that weren’t up to snuff as fighting machines.

23 months.

That’s how long Michael Vick will spend in prison. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson went above the 12-18 month sentence that was recommended by prosecutors when Vick pleaded guilty. There was word last week that federal prosecutors who debriefed Vick on the dog fighting world said he was not forthcoming with them. At the hearing today, it was revealed the FBI gave Vick a polygraph test in October, which he flunked. And the fact that Vick tested positive for marijuana just two weeks after he entered his guilty plea certainly didn’t play in his favor. (One now wonders just what strings were pulled to get that charge concerning the Aquafina water bottle with the hidden compartment at the Miami airport dropped.)

Michael Vick was once the prototype for the new modern quarterback. Now he’s the poster child for stupidity.

As ESPN notes on its homepage, the sentence is a serious blow to Vick’s future as a pro football player. He’s going to spend the next two years in prison, where he’s not going to be getting good food. He won’t be able to work out. He was already a player who needed to improve, and there will be no way to hone his talents sitting in a cell. He was a player who depended on speed, and that speed will be dissipated once he’s released.

And there are the state charges that hang over him that could mean even more prison time once he’s released on the federal conviction.

Even if he can still play football once he’s out of prison, what team is going to want him and all the baggage that comes with him? What team is going to want to deal with protesters outside the stadium with every game? And that’s assuming he’s even allowed back in the NFL, which shouldn’t be taken as a given.

This is the highest fall for a professional athlete since Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned from baseball in the prime of his career. Michael Vick and Peyton Manning were the faces of the NFL. Vick had the world at his fingertips.

Today, Manning leads the Indianapolis Colts toward another Super Bowl while Vick arrived at the courthouse in Richmond, Va., wearing prison stripes.

Michael Vick has thrown his life away. And that’s the most tragic thing of all.

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With the fall of Falcons star Michael Vick — who is scheduled to find out his prison term Monday — dogfighting has been under the spotlight in Georgia this year. The irony is, according to state Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, had Vick been under investigation by Georgia authorities, the law against dogfighting here is so arcane that he would never have been charged.

In short, the law against dogfighting in Georgia (pardon the pun) has no teeth.

Rogers has introduced legislation the past two years to toughen Georgia’s laws against dogfighting. Last year, it passed unanimously in the Senate, only to die in a House committee. This year, Rogers expects the proposal to pass. “I think the chances were very good before the Michael Vick situation,” Rogers told CL. “With the Michael Vick situation, the chances are even better.”

Rogers has gotten the support of the Best Friends Animal Society, a 33,000-acre animal sanctuary in Utah. The sanctuary enlisted Willie Nelson to film a public service announcement to bring attention to the proposed law.

Francis Battista, one of the founders of the sanctuary, says Nelson filmed the spot in Las Vegas before a gig at the Hard Rock Hotel. “He has helped us before,” Battista says. “We got involved because the laws in Georgia are pretty slack, and it’s difficult to get any type of conviction.”

The problem with the current law, according to Rogers, is that it is so specific that you have to be caught in the act in order to be prosecuted. “There’s not a single person in jail today in the state for dogfighting,” Rogers says.

As a result, Georgia has become a center for the dogfighting industry. “It’s pretty prevalent now and it’s getting worse because we’ve become kind of a haven,” Rogers says. “We need to be going after the entire dogfighting industry.”

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A grand jury in Virginia has handed up two felony indictments against Michael Vick and three others.

Vick was charged with one count of beating or killing a dog and one count of engaging in and promoting dogfighting. The charge of beating or killing a dog carries up to five years in prison and a $2,500 fine per animal.

Vick and his co-defendants pleaded guilty in federal court to killing between six to eight dogs.

The arraignment is Oct. 3.

Read the AJC story here.

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On a day when fallen boxing champion Mike Tyson pleaded guilty to a cocaine charge and faces four years in prison, the county prosecutor in Surry County announced that he will seek a state indictment against Michael Vick for dogfighting and cruelty to animals.

And if the fallen former Falcons quarterback is convicted of state charges, he would face an additional 40 years in prison.

One presumes that Vick’s legal team would fight any state indictments on the grounds of double jeopardy. It is a basic legal right, addressed in the Constitution, that forbids the government from trying Americans twice for the same offense.

In recent years as the U.S. Supreme Court has grown more conservative, it has become more “liberal” in its interpretation of what constitutes double jeopardy. According to our friends at Wikipedia:

Double jeopardy is … not implicated for separate offenses or in separate jurisdictions arising from the same act. For example, in United States v. Felix (1992), the Supreme Court ruled: “a[n]…offense and a conspiracy to commit that offense are not the same offense for double jeopardy purposes.”

Which would seem to place Vick in a tenuous situation where he could face serious jail time on top of whatever federal sentence he may receive in December.

It will be argued that Surry County Commonwealth Attorney Gerald G. Poindexter is piling on and using the indictments to save face. Poindexter’s office originally pursued the dogfighting allegations against Vick, and was criticized for not being aggressive enough. In fact, the feds swooped in and basically took the case away from Poindexter.

He told the AP last night:

“Most of the matters that I’m presenting have already been admitted in sworn statements authored by the defendants in the federal proceedings,” Poindexter said.

Poindexter couldn’t detail the exact indictments he will pursue, but said the local investigation and the federal investigation largely focused on different crimes.

“The killing of dogs is one of those statutory prohibitions. Dogfighting is a crime, the mistreatment of animals is a crime, so you could take your pick, or take them all,” Poindexter said before cutting the conversation short. “I don’t have anything else to say about it. I’m through with it. Hopefully it’s coming to an end.”

For Michael Vick, it appears, the end is not coming anytime soon.

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Those clever guys at ESPN.com came up with some humorous headline ideas concerning Michael Vick’s guilty plea.

Our personal favorite: “Vick Completes First Step To Joining ‘09 Raiders.”

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1) Michael Vick’s tenure with the Atlanta Falcons is over.
Read Arthur Blank’s statement to Peter King of Sports Illustrated after Vick’s final two co-defendants entered guilty pleas:

“With Michael, I guess looking back now, we should have been concerned about the time he spent away from our facility. When he went home to Virginia, it’s like he disappeared. It seems clear now that Michael had a secret life we didn’t know about. …

“You know, I’ve been criticized for being too close to Michael, for doing things like wheeling him around the Georgia Dome when he was hurt. Being too close to your players is not a negative. I still think, actually, it helps to be close to them, to try to get to know what they’re thinking and what’s going on in their lives. I think what this proves is that you can try to get as close to them as you can, but you’ll never truly get inside their heads.”

That doesn’t sound like an owner ready to stand by his man.

2) Vick will probably serve 12 to 18 months in federal prison.
Citing a source close to the case, the Washington Post reports that the deal, which the judge must approve, will mean Vick goes to prison for up to 18 months.

3) Vick’s NFL career is in jeopardy.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has taken a hard-line approach with players who get involved with the law.

And don’t forget: Vick lied to Goodell when he was called before the commissioner in July and asked point-blank if Vick was involved with dog fighting or gambling. That’s a huge strike against him. Another huge strike is that Vick violated the NFL’s code of conduct by gambling and consorting with gamblers. The last player who lied to a commissioner about gambling was Pete Rose. It is conceivable that Vick could face a lifetime ban from the sport, and have to apply for reinstatement.

4) Even if Vick does return to a NFL team, he will face a huge public backlash.
What franchise will want a felon convicted of dog fighting to lead their team? What franchise wants to face protesters every Sunday? What franchise wants to bank on a quarterback known for his running ability who has been out of the league for two or three years and is approaching the age of 30? If Vick does return to the NFL, those will be hurdles he and his team will have to face.

5) It ain’t over yet.
According to reports, Vick’s legal team wanted a promise from the state of Virginia not to prosecute him for animal cruelty and dog fighting as part of his federal plea agreement. The Washington Post reports that did not happen.

Vick could face an additional 40 years in prison if the state proceeds with charges.

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ESPN reported last night that there is a divide among Michael Vick’s legal team. One side wants him to fight in court, the other side wants to take a plea agreement. Either way, Vick reportedly has to make his decision by 9 a.m. Friday.

One sticking point for Vick is his NFL future if he does plead guilty. ESPN also reported that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would not tip his hand on what might happen. But bear this in mind: First, Vick met with Goodell on April 28 and assured the commissioner that he was not involved in dogfighting. Second, the NFL forbids players from gambling or consorting with gamblers. Vick is alleged to have gambled on the dog fights, and if he did, he put himself into prime position to be blackmailed by gamblers. The ultimate penalty for consorting with gamblers is a lifetime ban.

So there is much to consider. And then there’s this: ESPN also reported that the U.S. attorney plans to call additional witnesses before a federal grand jury on Monday that includes current Falcons players if Vick doesn’t plead guilty.

Reports say Vick is trying to strike a deal where he serves less than a year in prison. The problem he faces is that the prosecution holds all the cards and has no motivation to be kind. And with the threats to proceed with a racketeering indictment against Vick and injecting his former teammates into the criminal case, the government is obviously putting the screws to him.

Decision time is at hand: Does Vick gamble? Or does he cut his losses and give himself up?

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The biggest concern for Michael Vick supporters was that one of his co-defendants would flip and turn prosecution witness. That has now happened. Tony Taylor, 34, entered a plea of guilty this morning in federal court in Virginia and will cooperate with the prosecution. This has major ramifications for Vick’s defense.

ESPN.com’s Lester Munson explains:

As the scheme grew, according to the indictment, Taylor played a central role. When it was time to build three large sheds to stage fights and to house dogs and equipment, Taylor obtained the necessary permits from the authorities in Surry County. He applied for the building permit for the sheds on May 2, 2003, according to records maintained by Wallace Mavin, the Surry County Building Official, and he paid the necessary fees even though Vick’s name was listed as the owner and the applicant. Taylor described himself as Vick’s “agent,” in the documents. The house and shed, according to applications filed in May 2003, cost $362,000.

Prosecutors claim Taylor also allegedly helped purchase pit bulls and killed at least two dogs that fared poorly in test fights.

It will be powerful evidence against Vick, putting Vick and his money squarely in the middle of the scheme and its growth and development.

The charges in the indictment also show that Taylor can describe Vick as personally present at fights and at executions of dogs who did not perform well enough for Vick and his cohorts.

Taylor becomes the fifth prosecution witness, and possibly the most damning, who will finger Vick as a major figure in the dog fighting underworld.

Vick also faces a “superseding indictment,” which usually means additional witnesses and additional charges on top of what he’s already been charged with.

With each new revelation, it appears more and more likely that Vick is in serious jeopardy of spending what should be the prime of his career behind bars. And if that happens, he will become one of the most tragic figures in NFL history, brought down by his own stupidity and arrogance.

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell finally weighed in on the Michael Vick situation late yesterday when he banned the Falcons star quarterback from attending training camp until the league has the chance to thoroughly investigate the allegations against him.

And with that, it is appearing more and more likely that Vick has played his last game in a Falcons uniform.

Goodell apparently beat Falcons owner Arthur Blank to the punch. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King reported yesterday that Blank would likely announce today that the organization would suspend Vick for the first four games of the season, and then might put him on a paid leave of absence thereafter.

Blank will talk about the federal indictment against Vick at 4 p.m. today. Vick, who is in Virginia preparing for his legal case and his arraignment in Richmond on Thursday, will not be at the press conference.

What Blank says will, of course, determine Vick’s fate as a Falcon. Blank made a $130 million investment in Michael Vick. He handed over the reins of his team to Vick. And one has to imagine that Blank feels severely betrayed.

As I’ve said before, can you imagine Tom Brady or Donovan McNabb or Peyton Manning getting themselves into such an unseemly mess?

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Sports Illustrated’s Peter King reports that Falcons owner Arthur Blank spent the weekend on his ranch in Montana mulling over what to do about his Michael Vick problem. He predicts a decision could be announced by the end of Tuesday.

Writes King:

And you can take this to the bank: If Vick does not play for any reason relating to the case, he will not earn all of the $6 million he’s owed this year in base salary. The Falcons will find a way to take some money away as part of their dissatisfaction with Vick for putting them in this position — a mess that has ruined any chance they had to be a contender this season. At the end of the day, Blank runs a football business. And imagine his bitterness knowing his franchise player, a player he committed $130 million to just 30 months ago, a player he personally wheeled around the sidelines when Vick broke his leg in 2003, got himself involved in something as distracting and hurtful as a federal dogfighting case.

King predicts the Falcons will suspend Vick for the first four games of the season — the longest suspension the franchise can assess — for conduct detrimental to the team. Even then, he may not play this season. The Falcons may do what Philadelphia did with Terrell Owens two years ago and what Tampa Bay did with Keyshawn Johnson in 2003 — give Vick a leave of absence and, essentially, pay him not to play.

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Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, aka “Ookie,” and three others were indicted by a Virginia federal grand jury for conspiracy related to dogfighting. If convicted of all counts, Vick could face six years in prison, and his professional football career is, for now, in limbo.

“In or about April 2007, Peace, Phillips, and Vick executed approximately 8 dogs that did not perform well in ‘testing’ sessions at 1915 Moonlight Road by various methods, including hanging, drowning, and slamming at least one dog’s body to the ground.”

— From the indictment handed up by the grand jury on July 17

“This is an emotionally charged and complicated matter. There are a wide range of interests and legal issues that need to be carefully considered as we move ahead. … Given the differing perspectives and strong feelings around this issue, we probably won’t make everyone happy, but we are committed to doing the right thing. As the owner of this club that’s, ultimately, my responsibility.”

– Statement by Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons

“Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick, and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent. We do believe that Michael Vick should be afforded the same due process as any citizen; therefore, we have not terminated our relationship.”

— Statement by Nike, Inc. announcing it will not release the highly anticipated Air Zoom Vick V shoe this summer

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