Patterico's Pontifications

12/10/2007

Michael Vick Sentenced to 23 Months

Filed under: Crime,Sports — DRJ @ 4:45 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Michael Vick was sentenced to a 23 month prison term today, which was less than half his potential sentence of 5 years and slightly longer than the sentences assessed against his co-defendants:

“National Football League superstar Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison here on Monday for his role in a dogfighting ring. US District Judge Henry Hudson imposed the sentence, which exceeded that recommended by prosecutors under the agreement they reached when Vick pleaded guilty to conspiracy to operate a dogfighting enterprise across state lines.

The charge had carried a maximum of five years. Vick, 27, surrendered to authorities on November 19 and was already in jail. He has been indefinitely suspended by the NFL.

Vick, wearing a black and white prison jumpsuit, showed little emotion as Hudson pronounced the sentence, which also includes three years’ probation.

The explosively talented quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons sparked outrage across the United States when he admitted sharing responsibility in the slayings of six to eight dogs who had performed poorly in fights, including deaths by hanging, drowning and beating. Prosecutors said Vick bankrolled the operation.

Hudson had already sentenced two of Vick’s co-defendants, Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips, to 18 and 21 months for conspiracy in the ring, and Vick still faces trial on Virgina state charges in the case.”

Earlier reports indicated the prosecutors offered to recommend a sentence of 18-36 months but Vick turned it down hoping for a sentence of less than one year.

Vick’s attorney hopes for an early release, which might mean he would be available to play football after missing the current season and next year – assuming the NFL lets him return.

— DRJ

22 Responses to “Michael Vick Sentenced to 23 Months”

  1. Everything reminds me of my dog.
    link
    Lyrics hereLink

    driver (faae10)

  2. Vick gets out in 18 months with good time says his lawyer, just in time for training camp for the 2010 season. The Falcons are 3 and 9 without him and lots of money is being lost. Will he be back in the NFL in 2010? Yes, despite the total scorn of my wife and other dog lovers. Am I cynical about this? Yes.

    JayHub (0a6237)

  3. I predict that Vick will never play in the NFL again.

    No team will want PETA protestors outside the stadium each game with pictures of dead puppies. Not going to happen.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  4. That’s what my wife thinks, SPQR. We have a bet on it. Historically, over 30 years I always lose any bet I make with her, so you’re probably right.

    JayHub (0a6237)

  5. Vick’s best hope at regaining even an iota of public sympathy might be if the PETA loons keep hammering away at him after he’s pretty well been ruined. IMO, they’re mistaking general revulsion at what Vick was doing with actual sympathy for their goofy ideas about animal rights, and the more they try to make it all about them, the more people will say “if these lunatics don’t like Vick, he must not be all bad.”

    M. Scott Eiland (113229)

  6. Jay, with support like that, how can I be wrong? ( grin )

    SPQR (26be8b)

  7. I thought you had to do 85% of federal crime time? (someone who knows please correct me)

    Lord Nazh (c4715e)

  8. Vick may return to the NFL, but he’ll never play QB again. He’ll be away from the game way too long to be able to recapture the skills necessary to play QB — skills he never adequately developed before all this happened.

    On the other hand, he’s a freak athlete who is extraordinarily fast and difficult to tackle. So, I expect some team will sign him in the summer of 2009 and find out if he has anything to contribute.

    WLS (dfa1f1)

  9. WLS, I don’t know. The warden will certainly have seen The Longest Yard. Maybe he’ll organize a team playing other Club Fed prisons since he’s got such a ringer. [Just a joke, I hope.]

    JayHub (0a6237)

  10. Vick who?

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  11. I would be willing to bet that we never see him play again on Sundays.

    JD (2c9284)

  12. No team will want PETA protestors outside the stadium each game with pictures of dead puppies. Not going to happen.

    Please, please let it happen…because there you’d have a protest scene to delight one and all. Naked PETA’s with spiked dog collars on one side, with Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton sandwiching a ‘profoundly’ repenitent ex-QB
    [pssst…leave the bling at home, Michael] on the other. C’mon, admit it, you’d love it.

    allan (629064)

  13. I’m no big fan of PETA — kinda the contrary — but if Vick ends up playing in my town, I’d be happy to walk with them and carry a sign. And munch on a hamburger.

    Joel Rosenberg (677e59)

  14. Allan, there is some amusement potential there. But the NFL won’t let it get to that.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  15. It’s highly unlikely Vick will be out in a year due to the fact that on a 23 month sentence he really only has to serve around 19 months due to the good conduct credit time off that he gets. He also has to be designated to an insitution, be deemed RDAP eligible, and then wait for a spot in an RDAP class. All that takes time. He may not even start a program for 2-3 months as the classes are usually booked up months in advance. So, by the time he hits an RDAP yard, he’ll be down to 16 months left, then the BOP will credit him for the month he’s already been in. The program itself takes 9 months to complete, that leaves 7 months, and he has to spend 6 months in custody at a halfway house as a program requirement. So maybe he’ll get all of a month off. BIG DEAL!
    Larry Levine
    owner
    http://www.americanprisonconsultants.com

    Larry Levine (2bcf29)

  16. 15. Larry, the significance of when Vick gets out is if he can be in training camp for a team at the end of July 2009.

    p.s. Everyone else, (hoping to win that bet with my wife), both Dan Marino and Chris Carter on Inside the NFL tonight expect Vick to be back in the NFL as soon as he’s out because he’s a great athlete, a fitness fanatic (so the time off won’t hurt him – he’ll still be under 30), and because there aren’t that many good quarterbacks around. No discussion of naked PETANS, however.

    JayHub (68f44c)

  17. JayHub, I’m sticking to my prediction.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  18. Yup, my wife is too, with a nice dinner out at stake. She won’t forget the bet either.

    JayHub (68f44c)

  19. Hmmmm, how do I get a nice dinner on your dime too?

    ( grin )

    SPQR (26be8b)

  20. No chance, I’m saving all my pennies up now for my wife.

    JayHub (68f44c)

  21. The Story Continues: NEW YORK (AP) – Roddy White and four other Atlanta Falcons were fined by the NFL for violating uniform regulations with tributes to Michael Vick during last week’s Monday night game.

    After scoring a touchdown, White displayed a “Free Mike Vick” T-shirt under his jersey. Other players wore black eye strips with written tributes to Vick.

    JayHub (0a6237)

  22. A lot of people dont agree with me but I have 2 of my children almost bitten by pit bulls if not for their quick reflexes they would have been mauled. I called animal control they did nothing. So if some pitbulls die oh well. What about all these children you here about getting maimed or killed. No one raises such a big fuss about this. I think Michael Vick should have gotten probation not jail time.

    jackie (cec3a3)


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