WASHINGTON - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick agreed on Monday to plead guilty in a dog-fighting case that could wreck the U.S. star’s football career.
Had Vick not cut a deal, the 27-year-old multi-millionaire was likely to face a new indictment with more charges, legal sources have said.
The National Football League Web site said Vick, one of the league’s highest-paid players, would appear in court on August 27.
His indictment by a federal grand jury on July 17 badly damaged the reputation of one of the NFL’s best-known players. The NFL, whose season begins next month, suspended the three-time Pro Bowl selection after the indictment.
Vick, the top pick in the 2001 NFL draft out of Virginia Tech, faced up to six years in prison and $350,000 in fines if convicted on all of the initial charges.
A strong-armed quarterback and breakaway runner who is one of the NFL’s most dynamic players, Vick is accused of helping run an interstate dog-fighting enterprise known as “Bad Newz Kennels” from 2001 through April 2007..
Dogfighting, in which two dogs bred to fight are placed in a pit to attack each other for spectators’ entertainment and gambling, is illegal in the United States.
Vick had initially denied direct involvement in the pit bull fights that the indictment said took place on his property in Virginia.
Vick accepted the plea deal after two of his associates agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of their plea deals, according to documents filed in U.S. District Courtin Richmond, Virginia, where the case is pending.
“Every time you read about this story, it makes you want to take a shower,” another unnamed general manager said.
The additional issue with Vick is that well before he got in trouble, there were concerns about whether he could become a polished quarterback. Atlanta hired coach Bobby Petrino this offseason with the goal of concluding if Vick ever would harness his impressive talent.
“The fact that he’s only 27 and he’s still going to be a great athlete in a year or two is going to help him, but now he’s behind for two years,” the GM said. “I wasn’t sure how good a quarterback he was before. What’s he going to be in two years?”
Vick, a rare talent who threw for 20 touchdowns and ran for more than 1,000 yards last season for the Falcons, lost major endorsements following his indictment. Nike suspended the release of a new Michael Vick shoe that had been set to hit stores this month and Reebok stopped selling his jerseys.
Prosecutors charged that dogs sometimes fought to the death and some losing or underperforming dogs had been shot, drowned, hanged, electrocuted or killed by being slammed to the ground.