Vick pleads guilty, gets no new time

Michael Vick took a step toward a possible return to NFL action yesterday by pleading guilty to a felony charge of dogfighting in Surry County and receiving no more jail time than he is in the process of serving in federal prison.

Vick received a three-year suspended sentence from Surry Circuit Judge Samuel E. Campbell for the crime of "attending, sponsoring and participating in" dogfights at a house Vick owned in rural Surry from 2001 to last year.

Surry prosecutor Gerald Poindexter dropped a second felony charge of cruelty to animals, ending the state's prosecution of Vick. Poindexter later defended the plea agreement and criticized animal-rights groups, federal prosecutors and the news media for the way the Vick case unfolded.

Vick, dressed in a light gray suit, spoke softly in response to questions from Campbell about the charges. He replied "guilty" to the dogfighting charge and apologized to the judge, his family and "all the kids out there who looked up to me as a role model."

He spoke briefly to his mother and other supporters before being led from court by Virginia State Police, on his way back to federal prison camp at Leavenworth, Kan. He is serving a 23-month sentence there on a federal charge of conspiring to run dogfights.

Vick is to be free from federal custody July 20 and could be released months earlier into a halfway house, his lawyers have said. They have said the 28-year-old former Pro Bowl quarterback hopes to play again in the NFL, but they refused to discuss those topics yesterday.

One of Vick's lawyers, William Martin, said his client mostly wanted to be home with his family. Martin said Vick was paying a heavy price for his mistakes and had learned from them.

"Any time in prison is hell," he said.

Vick's New York-based agent, Joel Segal, attended the hearing and said afterward that his client was "very reflective, and staying in great physical shape." Vick, still under contract with the Atlanta Falcons, has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL.

Poindexter, the prosecutor, said the plea agreement met the approval of most residents of the county: "That's my constituency." He said he was glad to conclude a case that "exposed a lot of ugliness."

Poindexter said the animal-rights groups that pressed for action against Vick were "too narrowly focused" and that they should look at the killing of unwanted hunting dogs at season's end as well as the euthanization of horses after injuries, he added.

Poindexter said the U.S. attorney's office -- which abruptly took over the Vick case after eight weeks without consulting Poindexter -- was too ready to believe complaints that Surry authorities would not act against Vick.

He said he expected a "housecleaning" in the Justice Department, an apparent reference to the new presidential administration.

Poindexter said he had received hundreds of letters, some of which expressed racist views. He said the news media had sensationalized the story.

The Humane Society of the United States responded to the plea deal by saying it "had hoped the commonwealth of Virginia would send a stronger message" against dogfighting. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals protesters at the courthouse called on Vick to redeem himself by speaking out publicly against dogfighting.

The strongest public criticism yesterday came from Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who said of Vick: "I don't think this is somebody who ought to have a future in the NFL."

Answering a question on his monthly call-in radio show on the Washington-area WTOP station, the governor said Vick had abused the privilege of serving as a role model for young people by his involvement in dogfighting.

The offense "contained a lot of evidence of gratuitous cruelty to it that was kind of sickening," Kaine said. "I say that as a huge Virginia Tech fan, and until this happened, as a huge Michael Vick fan."

In federal court papers, Vick admitted involvement in the killings of eight dogs at his Bad Newz Kennels in Surry. But a grand jury in Surry declined to charge him based on that evidence. Instead, it returned indictments for one count of animal cruelty -- the charge dropped in the plea deal -- and one count of dogfighting.

Dogfighting and animal cruelty are Class 6 felonies. Each carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $2,500.

Yesterday, the judge suspended any fine for Vick but ordered him to pay the costs of his prosecution, which may include the cost of bringing him to Sussex from Kansas.

Vick's lawyers had asked that he be allowed to plead guilty in Surry from the Kansas prison by closed-circuit video. But Campbell refused and ordered Vick brought to Virginia to plead in person. Vick's court proceedings have taken place in the Sussex courthouse because the Surry courthouse is being renovated.

Vick, meanwhile, has reduced the price on his mansion in Atlanta from $4.5 million to $4.1 million. His Surry house, which he sold after his arrest, is to be auctioned off Dec. 12.
Contact Bill Geroux at (757) 498-2820 or wgeroux@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writer Jim Nolan contributed to this report.