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Michael Vick looking at lengthy prison stay
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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - This summer, before federal prosecutors indicted him on dogfighting charges, Michael Vick was planning to spend today readying to play the New Orleans Saints in a nationally televised “Monday Night Football” divisional rivalry.
Instead, the former Atlanta Falcons All-Pro quarterback, who pleaded guilty in August to one conspiracy charge, will be in Richmond, Va., to find out how long he will spend locked up.
Vick is already incarcerated — he turned himself in last month to get an early start on his sentence. Legal experts believe he will spend all of next football season and at least part, if not all, of the following season in prison as well.
“Mr. Vick has a lot to worry about,” said John Brady, a lawyer who teaches bar examination-review courses nationwide.
Vick’s attorneys told Judge Henry Hudson they plan a lengthy presentation of witnesses to ask for leniency. Vick could go away for as long as five years, but federal sentencing guidelines call for 12-18 months, and prosecutors have asked for only a year.
Hudson, however, is not known for light sentences. Last week, he sentenced a Vick co-defendant to 18 months despite the prosecutors’ 12-month recommendation. Observers said that does not bode well for Vick. The judge could give Vick additional time because of his superstar achievements.
“I am expecting the judge to come in with a sentence of two years, which is six months more than the top of the range but double the bottom of the range, which sends a signal about the seriousness of this,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a professor at George Washington University's law school. “My sense is that when someone who is a role model for a lot of young people who commits a crime as horrendous as this, and is a major player in the criminal operation, it is very likely the judge will say he did more public harm than someone who didn’t have that status.”
Vick also bought the property that housed breeding facilities and training grounds for the fighting dogs and failed a drug test while out on bail. Those factors, Brady predicted, could merit a sentence of more than two years.
“This is a judge who is known for his tough sentences,” Brady said. “I suspect the sentence will be between 18 and 32 months in prison, but it is all speculation until the judge rules.”
jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
6:48 AM MST on Tue., Dec. 11, 2007 re: "Judge admonishes Vick at sentencing"
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5:47 AM MST on Tue., Dec. 11, 2007
re: "Judge admonishes Vick at sentencing"
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4:57 AM MST on Tue., Dec. 11, 2007
re: "Judge admonishes Vick in sentencing former quarterback to nearly two years"
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6:37 AM MST on Tue., Aug. 28, 2007
re: "Remembering Vick the person"
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5:46 AM MST on Tue., Aug. 28, 2007
re: "Remembering Vick the person"
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2:37 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 23, 2007
re: "Dogs seized in Vick case facing death sentence"
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2:08 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 23, 2007
re: "Dogs seized in Vick case facing death sentence"
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8:51 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 23, 2007
re: "Dogs seized in Vick case facing death sentence"
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Muckle John said:
I agree with Examiner Reader 5:47 AM MST. This is extremely disturbing behavior. It must not be tolerated (and it hasn't been). It should be punished (and it has been... and will be; Vick faces further charges).
It should be noted that serial killers invariably begin by torturing animals before they "graduate" to people. Vick certainly seems to be a sadistic psychopath. That being the case something more than incarceration is in order here. The man needs healing before he is released to human society.
I have to say that I've heard very few calls for leniency, though.
109 agree | 114 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Vick didn't even need the money he got from the dogfighting. That means he did this for sport, he actually enjoyed it. He got pleasure out of seeing animals suffer, and he drowned and asphixiated underperforming dogs with his bare hands. If that's not pure evil, I don't know what is. Anyone crying for leniency needs to get their head checked, because they're such a big "fan" that they can't even get past sociopathic behavior.
104 agree | 104 disagree
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Muckle John said:
"Free Voice and all his other cohorts who suport Vick should be tied to whipping posts and beaten until dead."
Is it it just me, or does anybody else see the irony in this statement?
I fully agree that dogfighting is hideous and the people who patronize it or profit from it should be punished, but your moral outrage rings hollow when you propose beating them to death... even if you're using hyperbole.
105 agree | 95 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Free Voice and all his other cohorts who suport Vick should be tied to whipping posts and beaten until dead. Anyone who mistreats any animal should not be allowed to walk free anywhere. Those people are savages and should be dealt with accordingly.
170 agree | 187 disagree
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Answer for Free Voice said:
Hey Free Voice. The answer to your first question is that were it not for Vick and his cohorts, the dogs would not have to be killed. They trained them the dogs to be killers, not pets.
175 agree | 182 disagree
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GAB said:
These people, unlike Mr. Vick, do the killing humanely, with an injection of lethal drugs. They don't fight the animals for the amusement of others. Many animal rights groups don't like putting animals down; however, what option do they have if they don't have anyone who is adopting them? Are you planning to adopt 55 pit bulls who have been trained to fight? Let me say this: people who support dogfighting have a distorted view of what sport should be. Dogfights are havens for criminals and drug abusers and gamblers, according to those who know; this is not innocent sport. It's thug culture gone to its extreme. What next, fighting people to death in cages? Or shall we put people in against lions?
155 agree | 168 disagree
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Free Voice said:
I feel as though, why charge a man for killing dogs when they are going to be killed anyway. Who's sentencing those people? And why are animal activist not protesting against these particular places.
168 agree | 162 disagree
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GAB said:
At least they'll be put down painlessly... no hanging, drowning, or electrocuting. Michael Vick showed his cowardice and bullying side then.
171 agree | 167 disagree
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