Vick could be going to jail

[JEFF4i]

Well that's very flattering Warbird,

But nah, teaching is the right for me.

Anywho, I still think Vick should be removed from society, as he is a problem for it. Perhaps therapy, in an optimistic light, could work?

 

[Eracer]

From Wikipedia:

Dog fighting is illegal in most countries and has been linked to organized crime and gangs.

Blood sports involving the baiting of animals has occurred since antiquity, most famously at the Colosseum in Rome during the reign of the Roman Empire. However, in contemporary times, it is most associated with the English, who pursued it with utmost earnestness, which was barely known elsewhere in the world. For over six hundred years the pastime flourished, reaching the peak of its popularity during the sixteenth century. The various animal types involved in the bait allowed for the breed specialization and basic anatomical forms of fighting dogs, which we see today.

Dog fighting has been popular in many countries throughout history and continues to be practiced both legally and illegally around the world.

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Simplistic to be sure, but I want to point out that dogfighting is conducted by people of certain socioeconomic groups, not geographic regions.

It is both a socioeconomic and a regional phenomenon. The two patterns are linked.

But I don't really want to argue a minor point like this.

 

[mont86]

Sounds like they might suspend him with pay until the matter is cleared up, which they figure would take all season.

 

[JEFF4i]

Good, no pay for him, and hopefully, no play.

 

[Jules150]

Good, no pay for him, and hopefully, no play.

they suspended him WITH pay. Lame in my opinion. They try to punish these players by giving them a paid vacation.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

At the risk of sounding naive and misinformed. Have they even provided information ever putting Vick at the scene for any of this? I am yet to see anything that ties him into this outside of ownership of the home. Which I find it hard to consider someone a felon for lack of better judgment in renting their home.

I guess I wouldn't want to be so quick to convict the guy simply because he owned the house and admitted felons are point their finger at him for the sake of maybe getting off easy. In no way saying the guy is innocent, but saying it is O.K. to suspend the guy "without pay" would kinda be doing a disservice to the entire concept behind our judicial service. Probably not something the NFL or Atlanta Falcons want to do just yet. I am certainly yet to see enough evidence to ruin the guys life prior to there being a trial. Certain things like Duke University earlier this year, as well as the Olympic bombing in Atlanta come to mind. Ooops, sorry we ruined your life, but really thought you were guilty. I am yet to see anything that leads me to believe they did not throw his name in the hat simply for publicity. But then again, I haven't read a ton of stuff on this incident.

Then again, I was the same one that said regardless of how guilty I thought OJ was, I was unwilling to part with the Bill of Rights for the sake of putting one murderer behind bars.

 

[sssmokin]

Anyone who would do what he did to an innocent loving animal is a sick deranged piece of crap. All that money, and that's the form of "entertainment" he seeks..............to make MORE money???? The first thing a Professional Sports Team should do before signing these animals, is make them pass a "how to conduct yourself in society" class. I'm sure Vick will find another team like Minnesota or Oakland that will sign him so he can set up his dog fighting kennels. Too bad the Bengals don't need a QB.:real angry:

 

[mont86]

Anyone who would do what he did to an innocent loving animal is a sick deranged piece of crap. All that money, and that's the form of "entertainment" he seeks..............to make MORE money???? The first thing a Professional Sports Team should do before signing these animals, is make them pass a "how to conduct yourself in society" class. I'm sure Vick will find another team like Minnesota or Oakland that will sign him so he can set up his dog fighting kennels. Too bad the Bengals don't need a QB.:real angry:

He still has too much talent for the Vikes to sign him.:laugh:

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

He still has too much talent for the Vikes to sign him.:laugh:

Maybe they could go after Daunte again.

Amazes me that he is leaving Miami, and is looking at Jacksonville which would give them 3 possible started, and now met with Tampa Bay who already has 5 QB's on their roster. 4 of which were starters for a good part of last year.

Actually I wouldn't be real surprised if he ended up in Atlanta to replace Vick this year.

 

[sssmokin]

Cullpepper and Vick could set up dog fighting kennels on a boat full of hookers...................they don't even need football.

 

[Farquod]

At the risk of sounding naive and misinformed. Have they even provided information ever putting Vick at the scene for any of this?

Here's the indictment:

Michael Vick Indicted - July 17, 2007

Seems he bought the house, and personally bought a number of the dogs. I only read the first 3 pages of the indictment, but if they have evidence of these purchases, plus evidence of the fights occurring at his property, it would seem that he might be toast. Especially if he continued to buy dogs after the fighting commenced.

Edit: OK, I slogged through the whole indictment. If charge #57 is substantiated, I would say they have him. Many of the remaining counts read in a way that suggests that they could be substantiated solely by hearsay, however.


Have fun reading....

 

[JEFF4i]

Disgusting. He's a stain upon society.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Here's the indictment:

Michael Vick Indicted - July 17, 2007

Seems he bought the house, and personally bought a number of the dogs. I only read the first 3 pages of the indictment, but if they have evidence of these purchases, plus evidence of the fights occurring at his property, it would seem that he might be toast. Especially if he continued to buy dogs after the fighting commenced.

Edit: OK, I slogged through the whole indictment. If charge #57 is substantiated, I would say they have him. Many of the remaining counts read in a way that suggests that they could be substantiated solely by hearsay, however.


Have fun reading....

Yeah, that may be a little hard to overcome if they show he purchased the dogs, would probably be enough for me.

I am almost starting to wonder if this isn't going to turn into a matter of him denying it completely. In which case he may face a bigger sentence for perjuring himself than he may for the actual offense.

 

[Farquod]

I am almost starting to wonder if this isn't going to turn into a matter of him denying it completely.

Depends what they have for evidence, no? I'm sure they have receipts for some of the dog purchases, but if he bought them all before the fights, and they have no tangible evidence that he was at the fights, he may be able to claim he was unaware what the dogs were being used for. For example, he might state that he wanted to be a dog breeder, and his friends were handling the details.

The bit about him picking up the money alone for the one win (charge #57) to me would be the closer. Again, depends on what they have for evidence. If he could deny that he was the one to pick up the money, they would need to contradict it. Or maybe he thought he was just picking up stud fees?

:shark:

 

[Bravo]

I'm no lawyer but....I work around criminal investigators all the time....

IMHO:

1) This is a Federal case - not a state case. The case became federal for two primary reasons: a) interstate commerce as part of alleged criminal acts and b) the Indictment charges there is a criminal Conspiracy - which means that special federal laws called RICO are used to prosecute this case....

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Congress enacted the RICO statutes primarily as a way of fighting the Mafia. Virtually every convicted Mafia member in the past 25 years have been indicted and convicted under the RICO statutes. Additionally, street gangs are being indicted and prosecuted under RICO on a more frequent basis as federal prosecutors continue to convict under this statute...

If you will read the wiki article, you will see that dogfighting is not an offense that can be charged under RICO - but gambling is. This is why all the references in the Indictment about the amount wagered and paid off to the winners. It's kind of like what happened to Al Capone. He was not indicted/convicted for murder. He was indicted and convicted for Income Tax Evasion.

Parallel way of looking at a way to lock somebody up for something...

2) There are four Cooperating Witnesses in the indictment. In this regard, in the absence of hard evidence (which we do not know about one way or the other) the US Attorney will bring a 'circumstantial' case against the defendents based on the testimony of the CW's. The reason it took several years to get the indictment is that the US Attorney likely wanted to get more than 1-2 CW's in case someone recanted their Affidavits/Testimony. The last two CW's were developed fairly late in the case. Remember that since this is a Federal Case, then the lead investigators were the FBI....

Based on what I see, they have a pretty good case. If they have any reasonable amount of hard evidence, then Vick will be in real trouble.

And remember, a conviction and sentence in a Federal case means no parole. You serve the entire sentence if convicted....