August 14, 2007

Vick's Triple-Covered

It appears the the other two defendants are prepared to plea in Michael Vick's dogfighting case. That means they're going to join the third co-defendant and flip. Vick is now nearly certain to receive jail time, and his NFL future is more and more bleak.

7 Responses:

Brien said...

Since the feds have been working to get the co-defendants to flip and testify against Vick, does that mean that he's the primary target of the investigation? Or are they just playing the defendants off each other, trying to get any of them to flip.

I guess I just have a hard time believing that if Vick was the first one to cop a plea, that he would have received the same treatment. From the outside, it looks like the feds are being harder on Vick because of his celebrity status, not because he was more involved with dogfighting than the co-defendants were.

J-Red said...

I sincerely doubt Vick was ever offered a plea opportunity. I think the Feds' strategy has been to use the three co-defendants to make the case against Vick that they never could - money and management. I suspect the two charges that will be added in the superseding indictment are tax-related.

People seem upset that Vick is the main target, but this law is relatively new. Enforcement actually falls under the Department of Agriculture with investigatory assistance from the FBI and prosecution by the DOJ. As a relatively new law, if the Secy. of Agriculture wants his job to get a lot easier, he can show that he will attack the money in these cases. Because of the level of secrecy, a secluded venue is always needed. Take away the incentives to hosting the fights, and they have to move into areas where local law enforcement has a better chance of detecting the activities.

I suspect Vick will plea immediately after his two co-defendants enter their agreements this week. The tax charges would contain additional jail time and serious interest penalties.

seth said...

I don't know how this can be correct, but I heard this morning that Vick only has until this Friday to decide whether or not to plead guilty.

J-Red said...

That's how long the plea window is open. After that, the Feds will issue the superseding indictment. There is a ton of pressure on Vick to plea now, or face things getting worse.

The downside is that Vick supporters will never believe he is actually guilty if he pleas in light of the pressure of three snitches and additional charges. Especially in the Black community, many will feel that Vick got railroaded just like people they might know.

seth said...

I was just wondering whether they will even allow him to plead guilty next week, like you thought he may do after the other pleas are entered?

J-Red said...

My understanding is that he has til Friday, and if he doesn't plea by Friday he's getting two extra charges and they're going to trial.

seth said...

Ah I see. It's basically a threat. I misinterpreted it as some hard and fast federal rule that puts a deadline on pleas. I see now what you're saying Jason.

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