[vincesanity82]

Originally Posted by azrael492

I thought this was over already. Didn't they say he was not going to be indicted?

your thinking of pacman jones..

[azrael492]

Originally Posted by vincesanity82

your thinking of pacman jones..

I think you are right. It's not too hard to confuse the two.

[vincesanity82]

VICK IS INDICTED

Falcons quarterback Mike Vick has been indicted on multiple charges by a federal grand jury in Virginia.

The charges are, per ESPN.com (which not long ago declared Vick was unlikely to be indicted), "conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and to sponsor a dog in animal fighting venture."

Three others were indicted as well -- Purnell Peace, Quanis Phillips and Tony Taylor. Phillips' name appeared as a contact person on Vick's K-9 Kennels web site.

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[Bette]

If convicted of both charges, he could face up to 6 years in prison.
Let's see you scramble out of that Michael!

[simple simon]

Originally Posted by Bette

If convicted of both charges, he could face up to 6 years in prison.
Let's see you scramble out of that Michael!

omgggggg

we agreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[bears9]

Originally Posted by Bette

If convicted of both charges, he could face up to 6 years in prison.
Let's see you scramble out of that Michael!

ive found a silver lining while spending his 6 years in jail him and Pacman could be sellmates

[Bette]

Originally Posted by simple simon

omgggggg

we agreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Hey, stranger things have happened.

[vincesanity82]

LEAGUE STATEMENT HINTS THAT NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN PRE-VERDICT

Here's what the NFL had to say regarding Tuesday's stunning developments in the Mike Vick case, with a federal indictment coming on the eve of the opening of training camps:

"We are disappointed that Michael Vick has put himself in a position where a federal grand jury has returned an indictment against him. We will continue to closely monitor developments in this case, and to cooperate with law enforcement authorities. The activities alleged are cruel, degrading and illegal. Michael Vick's guilt has not yet been proven, and we believe that all concerned should allow the legal process to determine the facts. The matter will be reviewed under the League's Personal Conduct Policy."

This statement suggests to us that the NFL plans (for now) to defer any decision regarding discipline of Mike Vick until the situation is fully resolved. And that could take a while. At the earliest, trial would be in 2008. The situation possibly could drag into 2009.

The league's Personal Conduct Policy doesn't require that the Commissioner wait until the situation is resolved before imposing discipline. Instead, the language of the policy says that discipline "generally" will be delayed until after the case is resolved, for a first offense. Despite his various warts, Vick has had no prior brushes with the law.

Whether the NFL will have the luxury to wait is a different issue. Pressure could mount quickly for the league to act, especially in light of allegations that Vick was personally involved in the killing of approximately eight dogs, as recently as in April 2007.

Of course, the Falcons could opt to terminate Vick's contract, by virtue of the language contained in paragraph 11 of the Standard Player Contract. Although such an action could (as ESPN's Chris Mortensen pointed out today in connection with the Pacman Jones situation) hamper the team's ability to recover any signing bonus money if/when Vick is suspended or incarcerated, the P.R. storm that the Falcons will be facing could force them to act, sooner rather than later.

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[vincesanity82]

FALCONS' COMMENT IS NON-COMMITTAL

The Atlanta Falcons have issued a statement regarding the Mike Vick indictment. On close inspection, it doesn't really say anything.

There's no condemnation, but also no support.

"This situation has been troubling to many people, including our fans, during the last few months," the team said. "With today's news, our club and team will continue to be tested as Michael works through the legal process toward a conclusion.

"We are disappointed that one of our players – and therefore the Falcons – is being presented to the public in a negative way, and we apologize to our fans and the community for that.

"Obviously, we are disturbed by today's news from Virginia. However, we are prepared to deal with it, and we will do the right thing for our club as the legal process plays out. We have a season to prepare for and training camp opens next week. Our plan is to continue to do everything we can to support our players and coaches."

In our view, that's a wishy-washy, lawyer-crafted, keep-our-options-open-and-our-asses-covered copout.

It appears that the team is waiting to see what the fallout will be before making a decision. If, for example, sponsors like AT&T and Ford begin to rattle the cage, the Falcons might take action. If the team gauges the reaction to be something that could be weathered, they'll stand by Vick at least through the 2007 season.

But we think that the time for the team to act is now. The guy has been accused of killing dogs, and has uttered not a peep as horrible allegation after horrible allegation has been made public over the past several months. Seventeen canine carcasses were found on his land. Seventeen. Did they all die of natural causes?

Though we're not suggesting at this point that the Falcons should cut Vick, we believe that the team should exercise its prerogative to suspend Vick for up to four games without pay for conduct detrimental to the interests of the team, reserving its right to terminate his contract based on future developments. If Vick doesn't like it, let him file a grievance.

It might be the only way that we'll ever hear anything from him on the matter.

ProFootballTalk.com -- The Best Pro Football Scoop on the Internet

[Lefty Noob]

Originally Posted by vincesanity82

LEAGUE STATEMENT HINTS THAT NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN PRE-VERDICT

Here's what the NFL had to say regarding Tuesday's stunning developments in the Mike Vick case, with a federal indictment coming on the eve of the opening of training camps:

"We are disappointed that Michael Vick has put himself in a position where a federal grand jury has returned an indictment against him. We will continue to closely monitor developments in this case, and to cooperate with law enforcement authorities. The activities alleged are cruel, degrading and illegal. Michael Vick's guilt has not yet been proven, and we believe that all concerned should allow the legal process to determine the facts. The matter will be reviewed under the League's Personal Conduct Policy."

This statement suggests to us that the NFL plans (for now) to defer any decision regarding discipline of Mike Vick until the situation is fully resolved. And that could take a while. At the earliest, trial would be in 2008. The situation possibly could drag into 2009.

The league's Personal Conduct Policy doesn't require that the Commissioner wait until the situation is resolved before imposing discipline. Instead, the language of the policy says that discipline "generally" will be delayed until after the case is resolved, for a first offense. Despite his various warts, Vick has had no prior brushes with the law.

Whether the NFL will have the luxury to wait is a different issue. Pressure could mount quickly for the league to act, especially in light of allegations that Vick was personally involved in the killing of approximately eight dogs, as recently as in April 2007.

Of course, the Falcons could opt to terminate Vick's contract, by virtue of the language contained in paragraph 11 of the Standard Player Contract. Although such an action could (as ESPN's Chris Mortensen pointed out today in connection with the Pacman Jones situation) hamper the team's ability to recover any signing bonus money if/when Vick is suspended or incarcerated, the P.R. storm that the Falcons will be facing could force them to act, sooner rather than later.

ProFootballTalk.com -- The Best Pro Football Scoop on the Internet

As it should be. It's not looking good for him, but he is innocent until proven guilty.

[vincesanity82]

NIKE TO DROP VICK?

A source with contacts inside of shoe-manufacturing giant Nike tells us that the sponsorship of Mike Vick will be coming to an end, in light of his indictment on federal conspiracy charges.

Per the source, Nike won't move immediately to axe Vick, but that the company will pursue a mutual parting of the ways with the embattled Falcons quarterback.

The Humane Society pressed Nike several weeks ago to cut ties with Vick, but Nike refused.

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[vincesanity82]

REPORT: VICK WILL BE SUSPENDED

Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reports that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to suspend Falcons quarterback Mike Vick.

"Where [Vick] is in the most trouble is that he lied to the commissioner," a league source told Cole. "He told [Goodell] in April that he didn't know anything about this. The commissioner gave [Vick] every chance to come clean, be straight about what was going on. Instead, he just kept denying it."

Cole's report comes as a time when folks like ESPN's John Clayton are saying that Goodell "must" wait until the legal process runs its course until imposing discipline.

So who's right? In our view, the language of the revised Personal Conduct Policy does not require Goodell to wait. "Generally," as the policy reads, first-time offenders won't be suspended until there is a resolution. "Generally" applies, in our view, to the garden-variety DUIs and pot possession charges that litter the NFL police blotter.

"Generally" does not apply when a player is accused of killing multiple dogs in cold blood in the very same month that the player sat across from the Commissioner and told him that he knew nothing about the activities occurring on his property.

This is a rare and extreme situation, and it calls for a rare and extreme reaction. It's the biggest challenge of Roger Goodell's short tenure, and we're confident that, in the end, he'll get it right.

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[vincesanity82]

CONSPIRACY INDICTMENT COULD BE TIP OF ICEBERG

One thing that has gotten lost in the shuffle during the initial reaction to the surprising news that Mike Vick has been indicted by a federal grand jury is that he has only been indicted for now on conspiracy charges.

Conspiracy is a separate and distinct crime. Vick can still be charged with the underlying crimes. Under the federal gambling statute mentioned in the conspiracy indictment, Vick's penalty is up to 20 years.

Then there is the federal RICO law, which was devised in part to assist in the dismantling of the Mafia. The RICO law directly targets ongoing gambling operations, and the facts set forth in the indictment could easily satisfy the requirements of a RICO claim. Under Title 18, Section 1963 of the U.S. Code, the penalty is up to 20 years in jail.

And don't forget about the possibility of a state-level prosecution. Though most observers assume that Surry County prosecutor Gerald Poindexter has abandoned the investigation, the federal indictment could prompt Poindexter to explore animal cruelty charges, given the allegation that Vick participated in the killing of approximately eight dogs in April 2007. Alternatively, the Virginia Attorney General could feel compelled to act.

Under Virginia law, the intentional killing of an animal is a Class 6 felony, which carries a sentence of one to five years, per count. For killing eight dogs, that's a potential sentence of anywhere from eight to 40 years.

It could be that the feds opted to pursue conspiracy charges first because conspiracy charges were the easiest to prove to a grand jury. Next, the feds can turn to other potential charges, such as the underlying crimes mentioned in the current indictment or a RICO violation.

The bottom line, then, is that things could get worse -- much worse -- for Vick as time goes by.

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[simple simon]

Originally Posted by vincesanity82

Then there is the federal RICO law, which was devised in part to assist in the dismantling of the Mafia. The RICO law directly targets ongoing gambling operations, and the facts set forth in the indictment could easily satisfy the requirements of a RICO claim. Under Title 18, Section 1963 of the U.S. Code, the penalty is up to 20 years in jail.

gee i seem to recall someone here brought up RICO awhile ago


oh yeah .... it was me

[vincesanity82]

VICK SUMMONS COMING TODAY?

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a summons in the Mike Vick prosecution could be issued as early as Wednesday afternoon.

Vick's first decision in the case will be whether to turn himself in voluntarily, or whether to force an arrest. Either way, he'll be booked, fingerprinted, and a mug shot will be taken.

After that, bail will be set, and Vick (after paying it) will be released.

And, next week, he reports for training camp. But we have a growing feeling that, when camp opens, he won't be there.

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