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Vick Pleads Guilty To Virginia Dogfighting Charge

Associated Press photo

Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick arrives at the Sussex County Courthouse in Sussex, Va. today.

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The Associated Press

Published: November 25, 2008

SUSSEX, Va. - Former professional quarterback Michael Vick has pleaded guilty to a state dogfighting charge in Virginia in a bid to make him eligible for early release from jail.

The 28-year-old Vick pleaded guilty to one charge and not guilty to a second count involving torturing or killing animals. The second count was dropped.

Vick was given a three-year suspended sentence. The plea could potentially speed his return to the National Football League.

Federal law prohibits prisoners from being released to a halfway house if there are unresolved charges pending.

Vick was expressionless throughout the brief hearing. He told the judge he apologized to his family and to children who looked up to him as a role model.

Vick, who arrived in Virginia last Thursday, already is serving a 23-month sentence in Leavenworth, Kan. for a federal dogfighting conviction. He's scheduled for release on July 20, 2009, and will serve three years' probation.

Vick arrived at the courthouse about 6:40 a.m, more than two hours before his scheduled appearance.

He was driven into a covered garage at the back by police and was escorted inside wearing a gray suit and shackled at the wrists and ankles. About 20 armed and uniformed police were stationed around and inside the building, where a large crowd of media waited outside.

Nine protesters from the animal rights group PETA stood quietly outside, holding signs with photographs of bloodied fighting dogs and others that read "Dogfighters repent."

Vick was convicted of the federal charges in August 2007 when he admitted bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in rural Surry County. He also admitted to participating in the killing of several underperforming dogs.

Since the conviction, he has landed in bankruptcy court after losing nearly all of his record-breaking $130 million from a 10-year deal he signed with his former team, the Atlanta Falcons, in December 2004.

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