Vick Indictment

For several months now a storm has been brewing over the head of Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick. The storm of allegations, which included hosting, participating and promoting dog fights on property he owns, seemed to die down. But the storm dramatically worsened this week when he was indicted by federal investigators on those allegations.

And the details in those charges are absolutely horrendous:

Reports of killing dogs that lost prize fights—which likely translates to losses of tens of thousands of dollars—by wetting down a dog and then electrocuting it, slamming another dog on the concrete to kill it, hanging another, and several other unthinkably inhumane dog killings. Investigators even uncovered a “rape stand,” used to hold unwilling female dogs in place to mate with males.

I mean, this ain’t lookin good!

The indictment of Vick comes at a very interesting time in the history of the National Football League (NFL), the league that Vick plays in. The new Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, has been on a mission to clean up the image of the league. He recently took the very drastic step to suspend 2 players for off-the-field activities. Pacman Jones of the Tennessee Titans—suspended for the season, and Tank Johnson of the Chicago Bears—suspended for part of the season, got the attention of the media for skirmishes with the law, but neither was indicted for their actions. In the case of Tank Johnson, he was not only suspended by the league for part of next season, but was also released from his team only to have all criminal charges brought against him dropped.

So the question is, with such a low standard for league suspension (i.e. no indictment, just repeated bad behavior can lead to suspension), how can the Commissioner not suspend Michael Vick now that a Federal Indictment has been leveled against him?

And don’t be fooled by many of the sports reporters that keep saying that Vick is a “first time offender,” and that the league’s zero tolerance posture is meant for repeat offenders (which is oxymoronical in nature). This is not Vick’s first run-in with the law; he has a checkered past, going back several years. His most recent skirmish with the law came earlier this year when he was caught with marijuana in a decoy water bottle at an airport.

As for Vick and potential prison time specifically, if the Feds have taken the time to indict him, and indeed have all the corroborating evidence and eye-witness testimony that it sounds like they have, I think he could actually serve time in the slammer; the most significant charge being brought against him being a Conspiracy charge. That charge means that even if Vick wasn’t present for any of the activities or didn’t participate in any of the activities, he could still serve time for merely agreeing to hide evidence or carry out these activities (etc.).

I hope the allegations aren’t true, because they are outrageously unthinkable. However, whether Vick is convicted or not, I don’t see how he can avoid being suspended for at least a portion of the upcoming NFL season.

-Maelstrom