Thursday, August 16, 2007
News / Sports Decision Day for Vick
Posted by Scott Freeman on Thu, Aug 16, 2007 at 2:09 PM
ESPN reported last night that there is a divide among Michael Vick's legal team. One side wants him to fight in court, the other side wants to take a plea agreement. Either way, Vick reportedly has to make his decision by 9 a.m. Friday.
One sticking point for Vick is his NFL future if he does plead guilty. ESPN also reported that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would not tip his hand on what might happen. But bear this in mind: First, Vick met with Goodell on April 28 and assured the commissioner that he was not involved in dogfighting. Second, the NFL forbids players from gambling or consorting with gamblers. Vick is alleged to have gambled on the dog fights, and if he did, he put himself into prime position to be blackmailed by gamblers. The ultimate penalty for consorting with gamblers is a lifetime ban.
So there is much to consider. And then there's this: ESPN also reported that the U.S. attorney plans to call additional witnesses before a federal grand jury on Monday that includes current Falcons players if Vick doesn't plead guilty.
Reports say Vick is trying to strike a deal where he serves less than a year in prison. The problem he faces is that the prosecution holds all the cards and has no motivation to be kind. And with the threats to proceed with a racketeering indictment against Vick and injecting his former teammates into the criminal case, the government is obviously putting the screws to him.
Decision time is at hand: Does Vick gamble? Or does he cut his losses and give himself up?
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