Click here to read Part Two
Click here to read Part Three
Law and Order:
(By the way - For Christmas, I am going to ask for a big canvas drawing of this to hang above our mantle)
July 17, 2007: Vick, Peace, Phillips and Taylor are charged by a federal grand jury in Richmond, Va., for conspiring to engage in competitive dog fighting, training pit bulls for fighting and conducting the fights across state lines.
July 26, 2007: Vick, Taylor, Peace, and Phillips plead not guilty to the charges. Vick's statement to press:
"Today in court I pleaded innocent to the allegations made against me. I take the charges very seriously, and I look forward to clearing my good name. I respectfully ask all of you to hold judgment until all of the facts are shown. Above all, I'd like to say to my mom I'm sorry for what she has to go through in this most trying of times. It has caused pain to my family and I apologize to my family."
Nike, Vick's largest endorsement deal, announces that they had "suspended Michael Vick's contract without pay, and will not sell any more Michael Vick products at this time.
July 30, 2007: Taylor, estranged from Vick, Peace, and Phillips since 2004, changes his plea to guilty and agrees to cooperate with the prosecution of Vick and the other two men.
See Tony Taylor "Summary of Facts" plea document here.
Aug. 17, 2007: Peace and Phillips plead guilty and implicate Vick in gambling on dogfights as well as helping drown or hang dogs that didn't do well.
Peace said in his confession that he suggested giving away the dogs who refused to fight, but Vick disagreed and insisted that the dogs be killed.
Summary of Facts from Quanis Phillips' plea agreement
Summary of Facts from Purnell Peace's plea agreement
Mid August: Mike Gill, assistant US attorney, presents Vick's lawyers with new evidence: a photo of Vick, Peace, Phillips and Taylor at a dogfight wearing headbands and t-shirts that read "Bad Newz Kennels" and holding Jane, their grand champion fighter.
Aug. 23, 2007: Vick signs a plea agreement and statement of facts admitting to conspiracy in a dog fighting ring. He denies killing the dogs, placing any bets or taking prize money.
His lawyer makes a public statement: "After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick has asked that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors regarding 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."
Aug. 24, 2007: Vick pleads guilty to dog fighting conspiracy before U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson. At a news conference, Vick issues a public apology WITH NO MENTION OR APOLOGY TO THE DOGS.
Read, you know, his public apology -- you know -- here, you know.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspends Vick indefinitely without pay from the league.
Hours after details of Vick's guilty plea, Nike announces they are completely terminating their relationship with him. Adidas announces its Reebok division would stop selling Vick's football jerseys. The NFL said it had pulled all Vick-related items from their website. Trading card companies like Donruss and Upper Deck followed with similar actions. Rawlings, which used Vick's likeness to sell merchandise and modeled a football using his name, ended its relationship. The same day, the Dick's Sporting Goods and Sports Authority stores also stopped selling Vick-related products.
At the request of federal authorities, he agreed to deposit $928,000 in an escrow account for the care of the dogs.
DO NOT START FEELING BAD FOR HIM.
October: Vick fails a drug test, testing positive for marijuana which was a violation of his plea agreement. Vick claimed that he smoked to "deal with the emotional pain."
Vick fails a polygraph, contradicting his original confession. He swore from the start that he never had a hand in killing any of the dogs, but when he maintained those claims during the polygraph test, the lie detector called him out. He was forced to backtrack and admit that he had participated in torturing and killing multiple dogs.
November 20, 2007: Vick surrenders to U.S. marshals and begins serving his sentence in a Virginia jail three weeks before his official sentencing. Prior to turning himself in that day, Vick purchased a $99,000 Mercedes, cashed $24,900 in checks, gave away another $44,000, and paid $23,000 to a public relations firm. Vick had still not paid the $928K to cover the care and treatment of the 66 dogs, so those involved in the the dogs' well-being and rescue were personally paying to keep them alive by maxing out credit cards and fundraising for "something" they could not mention due to the gag order from the court - and high confidentiality of the Vick case and dogs.
Government files paperwork seeking to freeze Vick's assets until he pays up.
November 21, 2007: Vick deposits $928,000 into escrow account.
November 30, 2007: Peace and Phillips are sentenced to 18 and 21 months.
Dec. 10, 2007: Vick is sentenced to 23 months in federal prison (he serves 18). Taylor, who was the first to willingly plead guilty, received 60 days in prison.
Upon sentencing Vick, Judge Hudson, stated: "I'm not convinced you've fully accepted responsibility... You were instrumental in promoting, funding, and facilitating this cruel and inhumane sporting activity."
Due to Vick's lack of remorse and lying throughout his confession, he received a longer sentence than suggested.
"This led to the biggest dog fighting conviction ever. It was the first time that dogs in a fight bust were looked at not as weapons, but as victims."
Late December 2007: Lead investigator, Bill Brinkman, the only person who pursued and insisted on charging Vick from Surry County is fired from the Sheriff's department for the reasoning of "the department was going in a different direction."
In addition, when his truck was taken into the mechanic for servicing, he learned that the breaks had been tampered with. Feeling unsafe in Surry County, Bill and his family move out of state.
July, 2008: Vick files bankruptcy from being over 19 million dollars in debt.
Nov. 25, 2008: Vick appears in a Virginia courtroom to plead guilty to a state dog fighting charge and receives a three-year suspended sentence and pays $3,636.97 in fees. Phillips, Peace, and Taylor also plead guilty and received suspended sentences.
May 20, 2009: Vick is released from the Leavenworth, Kansas prison to begin two months of home confinement at his Hampton,Virginia home.
Fall of 2009: Vick signed a $1.6 million one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, and was reinstated in week 3 of the season.
2010: Vick was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year
December 26, 2010: President Barack Obama calls the Eagles owner, Jeffrey Lurie, to congratulate the team for giving quarterback Mike Vick a "second chance."
October 2013: Five years after his guilty plea, Michael Vick, yet again, becomes a dog owner. He was quoted saying:
I understand the strong emotions by some people about our family's decision to care for a pet. As a father, it is important to make sure my children develop a healthy relationship with animals. I want to ensure that my children establish a loving bond and treat all of God's creatures with kindness and respect. Our pet is well cared for and loved as a member of our family."
March 21, 2014: Vick signs a one year $5 million dollar contract with the New York Jets
August 25, 2015: Vick signs a one year contract with Pittsburgh Steelers and announces that he has almost paid back all of his debts to previous creditors.
OH and he's married, and lives in a nice, big mansion, has children AND A DOG!!!!!
So, for Vick, it's just as if it never happened right???????
But what about #49??!!!?! (See Part One)
**While
the dogs in this post were not owned by Michael Vick, they were all abused and/or
subjected to dog fighting. The dog above, however, was
one of Michael Vick's and found on his property at the initial search on April 25, 2007.
"I yell because somewhere in a Los Angeles basement, there is a pit bull with duct tape wrapped around her muzzle, being trained to kill while money changes hands. I yell because on some news program in Denver, there is a politician demonizing pit bulls to further his own career.
I yell because some punk in Tampa has his fifth box of pit puppies, and I know they'll end up in the last cage of an animal shelter before they're two. I yell because humans can be the most brutal and heartless animal on the planet.
I yell because the pit bulls can't, and someone needs to. I yell because these pit bulls are my family."
-Shorty Rossi, Four Feet Tall and Rising
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