[simple simon]

What's next? Can it get any worse for Vick?

Yes, it could get worse in a hurry. The federal prosecutors in Richmond are preparing a new set of charges, known in legal terms as a superseding indictment. The new charges could come any day. The new charges might include a racketeering allegation under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (known as RICO). RICO originally was designed as a weapon against organized-crime hoodlums but has been used frequently in other prosecutions. A charge under RICO would make Vick's situation significantly worse. It would make the government's case against him easier to prove, and it would increase the prison sentence Vick would face if convicted.

Lester Munson, a Chicago lawyer and journalist who has been reporting on investigative and legal issues in the sports industry for 18 years, is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
ESPN - Munson: Vick in more serious legal trouble - NFL

[simple simon]

i seem to remember a GTG member brought up RICO a while ago

[mervinout]

VT's athletic facility bears his name, since he donated alot of money to the athletic dept i belive. Is this something the school needs to change? Also vick is screwed if he is put in jail for two years i doubt we ever see him start in the nfl again. Also can they make a longest yard movie based on vick? to bad he couldnt of gone to jail when jamal lewis did cause they would of had a great backfield

[EmpireWF]

So shouldn't he accept the guilty plea before the feds bring down more charges and possible more jail time?

[simple simon]

well, from what i have been reading he is waiting to hear what the NFL would do if he takes a guilty plea ..... if they say they will kick him out of the NFL if he is found anything but innocent, he may feel the trial is worth it to try and prove his innocence and save his career

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by simple simon

well, from what i have been reading he is waiting to hear what the NFL would do if he takes a guilty plea ..... if they say they will kick him out of the NFL if he is found anything but innocent, he may feel the trial is worth it to try and prove his innocence and save his career

I heard basically the opposite. The NFL isn't gonna say squat until next week. At that point he will have made his decision to either take the plea or go with the trial. FOX news was saying that they felt the NFL wouldn't do much but a gal fom PETA said they will do all they can, probably not much, to keep him out of football after the fact.

Time will tell

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by simple simon

well, from what i have been reading he is waiting to hear what the NFL would do if he takes a guilty plea ..... if they say they will kick him out of the NFL if he is found anything but innocent, he may feel the trial is worth it to try and prove his innocence and save his career

I heard basically the opposite. The NFL isn't gonna say squat until next week. At that point he will have made his decision to either take the plea or go with the trial. FOX news was saying that they felt the NFL wouldn't do much but a gal fom PETA said they will do all they can, probably not much, to keep him out of football after the fact.

Time will tell

[simple simon]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

I heard basically the opposite. The NFL isn't gonna say squat until next week.

i suppose i may have not said it well enough ....... i meant he wants to know what the NFL will do before he decides ..... of course they have every right to tell him or not tell him

Atlanta defense attorney Jerry Froelich, another member of NFL running back Jamal Lewis' defense team, said Michael Vick's lawyers should be negotiating on multiple fronts — the U.S. Attorney's Office, the NFL and the Falcons. Froelich said this happened after Lewis was indicted on federal drug conspiracy charges in Atlanta. After entering a plea to a lesser charge, Lewis was suspended two games, fined and released from jail in time to play 15 games for the Baltimore Ravens in 2005. "We never even talked to the government about a plea until we went to the league and the team and said, 'If we can get this, what would you do?' " Froelich said. "Before we made any decisions, we had to know what the NFL thought about it. It's also a business decision." If the NFL had said Lewis would be banished from the league no matter what kind of plea agreement was reached, Froelich said, there was little doubt what would have happened next. "We'd have said, 'Let's crank it up and go to trial,' " Froelich said. "We'd have fought the charges, for his livelihood." -- Atlanta Journal-Constutution

Vick's legal team not only must negotiate with the U.S. Attorney's Office, but with the NFL as well. If Vick cannot secure a deal that saves his NFL career, he could decide to go to trial, risking a lengthy prison sentence if he is convicted.-- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The prosecutors have given Vick until Friday to decide whether to take a plea deal, the details of which have not been made public. On Monday, a federal grand jury in Richmond will begin hearing new allegations against Vick.


Vick's attorneys are seeking a deal that limits his prison time and saves his NFL career, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations.
Vick plea deal likely | ajc.com

there's my info ..... though it could all be baloney, who knows

[LSC9901]

As in all of these types of situations we only hear what the media wants us to hear.

[EmpireWF]

Heard one woman on ESPN say that if Vick does plead guilty, he'll have to admit to some involvement in the crimes. And if he does do that, he'll be admitting that he lied to the NFL Commissioner when he told him he did nothing wrong.

So if you ask me, he won't be endearing himself to the league at all.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by EmpireWF

Heard one woman on ESPN say that if Vick does plead guilty, he'll have to admit to some involvement in the crimes. And if he does do that, he'll be admitting that he lied to the NFL Commissioner when he told him he did nothing wrong.

So if you ask me, he won't be endearing himself to the league at all.

I'd guess that they are looking for ways around admitting to everything in court. He may be willing to plead guilty but if saying it all out loud in court ruins any chance to further his career when he gets out he may reconsider. I'm sure his lawyers are talking to both sides today trying to iron out a deal that is less crushing on his possible future.

I think on FOX this morning they also stated he may have to give up his $28 million signing bonus.

[simple simon]

Originally Posted by EmpireWF

Heard one woman on ESPN say that if Vick does plead guilty, he'll have to admit to some involvement in the crimes. And if he does do that, he'll be admitting that he lied to the NFL Commissioner when he told him he did nothing wrong.

So if you ask me, he won't be endearing himself to the league at all.

i cant remember where i read it Empire, but he has basically already been found to have lied

during the search of the house they found the home phone # of new Falcons coach Bobby Petrino ....... if you remember, Vick said he never went to this house ..... if that's true, how did the phone # get there

[simple simon]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

I'd guess that they are looking for ways around admitting to everything in court.

this can be achived if he is allowed to plead 'no contest' to the charges as part of his plea agreement

Nolo contendere, in criminal trials, in some common law jurisdictions, is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of guilty or not guilty. Its literal translation from Latin means, "I do not contest," and is also referred to as a plea of no contest, to stand mute, or, more informally, a nolo plea. Nolo contendere, while not technically a guilty plea, has the same effect as a guilty plea, and is often offered as a part of a plea bargain.[1]

A conviction arising from a nolo plea is subject to any and all penalties, fines, and forfeitures of a conviction from a guilty plea, and can be considered as an aggravating factor in future criminal actions. However, unlike a guilty plea, a defendant may not be required to allocute the charges

Nolo contendere - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Bette]

Originally Posted by simple simon

i seem to remember a GTG member brought up RICO a while ago

Yeah, it seems like they brought it up a couple of times that they had brought it up originally.

I like mervinout's idea of the movie.
I havent been paying much attention to it anymore but once it sounded like the rats were deserting the sinking ship and everyone was giving up Vick.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by simple simon

this can be achived if he is allowed to plead 'no contest' to the charges as part of his plea agreement

I don't believe that is part of the plea agreement. My sources said that he had to plead guilty and allocute (tell the truthful story) to the court. If he doesn't want to do all of that then it's off to the trial court for him. Again this is media reports only and you know what I think of the media.