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Vick Reportedly In Plea Negotiations, Insider Learns

Copyright 2007 InsiderAdvantage/Internet News Agency

(8/14/07) As news broke late yesterday of the impending plea bargains by Michael Vick’s two remaining co-defendants in his November federal trial over dog fighting related conspiracy charges, InsiderAdvantage learned that Vick was reportedly in the middle of seeking a plea bargain for himself.

Informed sources told InsiderAdvantage that Vick’s attorneys had been working to gain a plea agreement that would potentially result in a sentence of mere months rather than the possible years he could serve in prison if found guilty of the charges. One source said that the Vick legal team’s strategy was to keep the severity of the Falcons quarterback’s sentence to a minimum in hopes that he could “in a year or so” return to the NFL. But sources also told InsiderAdvantage that any return would likely “not be as a Falcon.”

News that Vick’s two remaining co-defendants are entering plea bargains of their own now casts serious doubt over Vick’s ability to bargain for a favorable plea. One former federal prosecutor told InsiderAdvantage that “unless Vick has some incredibly ‘big fish’ or a lot of other high profile names to offer up, it’s highly unlikely that there will be a chance for a lenient plea, particularly given the fact that the judge has to accept the plea and this one is not known for easy sentences.”

In a related matter, the NFL denied that it had reached a decision to suspend Vick from the league for a year. But the league’s own investigation reportedly shows evidence contradicting Vick’s claims that he was not present and did not visit the property owned under his name where alleged dog fights took place. As one leading criminal defense attorney told Insider “the league’s plans are now likely irrelevant. I would be amazed if Michael Vick escapes serious time, much more than any one year’s suspension from the league could offer up.”

An initial InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion survey conducted immediately after Vick’s indictment found Falcons fans and Georgians as a whole split over whether Vick should be released by the team or allowed to play. The survey, which ran in papers and on sports programs around the nation was taken prior to ensuing revelations, including the news of the various plea bargains by codefendants.