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WASHINGTON - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick agreed yesterday to plead guilty in a dog-fighting case that could wreck his football career.
His attorney, Thomas Shuttleworth, said that Vick, 27, reached a deal with prosecutors. Vick could go to jail. Had he not cut a deal, legal sources say the multimillionaire was likely to face a new indictment with more charges.
Vick, one of the league's highest-paid players, will appear in court on August 27. His indictment by a federal grand jury on July 17 badly damaged his reputation. He is of one of the NFL's best-known players. The NFL suspended him after the indictment.
Vick faced up to six years in prison and US$350,000 ($508,425) in fines if convicted on all of the initial charges.
Vick is accused of helping run an interstate dog-fighting enterprise known as "Bad Newz Kennels" from 2001 to this year. Dogfighting is illegal in the United States. Vick had initially denied direct involvement in the fights that the indictment said took place on his property in Virginia.
- Reuters
