If Vick agrees to a plea deal the judge ought to reject it...one year is not enough

[SaveElmer]

With the last of Vick's co-defendants pleading guilty today, testimony they will give in court should it get that far is being released...and it is beyond disgusting...looks like the Falcons and the NFL may take action as well...

On Friday morning, the last two of Michael Vick's co-defendants in a federal dogfighting case -- Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace -- pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture. They now add their names and their knowledge to testimony from four cooperating witnesses and Tony Taylor, a co-defendant who earlier agreed to testify against Vick. With the evidence piling up against the Atlanta Falcons' quarterback, where does that leave the case? Here are the latest questions and answers.

Now that they have pleaded guilty, what do Peace and Phillips provide to the government's case against Vick that wasn't there before?

Both of Vick's former cohorts in the alleged dogfighting scheme will bring dramatic and powerful testimony against Vick. The most difficult testimony for Vick to counter will be Peace's description of a doubleheader dogfight in March 2003. According to the "Summary of the Facts" that Peace signed as part of his plea agreement, Vick and Peace entered two dogs from Bad Newz Kennels in that fight. Both lost. If the Vick case goes to trial, Peace will testify in front of the judge and jury that he and Vick "executed the dog by wetting the dog down with water and electrocuting the animal." That isn't all. Peace and Phillips will describe eight more executions during 2004 and 2005, all of them occurring on Vick's compound in Surry County, Va. All eight dogs flunked fighting tests. Some were drowned. Others were hung. And one was killed -- with Vick allegedly present -- by "slamming its body into the ground."

When testimony from Peace and Phillips is added to the testimony from Taylor, the government's case against Vick appears to be overwhelming. The seven witnesses can describe the alleged dogfighting scheme from its inception in 2001, less than eight weeks after Vick signed his first NFL contract, to its demise three months ago when police raided Vick's compound in rural Surry County. The seven witnesses allegedly can describe Vick building the dogfighting facility, buying dogs, breeding dogs, training dogs, betting on dogs, paying for everything and participating in gruesome executions of losing dogs.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=munson_lester&id=2979011

[Kagemusha]

1. Keep in mind, these are 5 year max charges, Libby was convicted of 4...

and according to sentencing guidelines he only was going to serve 2 1/2 years behind bars before his pardon. Not nearly as much parole time available for federal prison, though.

So my point being, Vick would have to be found guilty of a lot of separate charges to serve really big time here.

[LiberalFighter]

2. Did anyone else in the county know about what was happening?

Did anyone in local law enforcement know about it? County government?

With someone of that stature it is more difficult to hide their activities AND he and his buddies probably paid off others.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

3. I can't wait to contribute my share..

Of what it will take to keep Vick in prison for as long as it takes to properly punish him.

Hopefully the money will come out of the portion of my taxes that already go toward useless and counterproductive public schooling.

We need more prisons, not schools.