: RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Michael Vick put family pets in rings with pit bulls and thought it was funny watching the trained killers injure or kill the helpless dogs, a witness told federal investigators during the dogfighting investigation that brought Vick down.
In a 17-page report filed Aug. 28, 2008, by case agent James Knorr of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and released Friday under the Freedom of Information Act, a person identified as confidential witness No. 1 said Vick placed pets in the ring against pit bulls owned by "Bad Newz Kennels" at least twice and watched as the pit bulls "caused major injuries."
The witness said Vick and co-defendants Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips "thought it was funny to watch the pit bull dogs belonging to Bad Newz Kennels injure or kill the other dogs."
Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison in Dec. 2007, and is due to be released from the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kan., on July 20, 2009. He returned to Virginia on Thursday and is being held in Hopewell pending his appearance in Surry County Circuit Court on Tuesday, where he is expected to plead guilty to two felony charges but receive a suspended sentence.
The report, which has some names and other information redacted to protect some of the parties involved, also details the killing of several dogs at property Vick owned on Moonlight Road in Surry County in mid-April 2007, just days before the first search warrant was executed on the property, turning a drug investigation into the one that sent Vick to prison.
It says Vick was administered a polygraph test by the FBI in October 2007 and denied taking part in the killing of dogs in mid-April. When told he had failed that part of the test, Vick recanted his story and admitted to helping hang six to eight underperforming dogs.
The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, once the highest paid player in the NFL, has been suspended indefinitely by the league and his football future is uncertain. He's also in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings with $16 million in assets and $20.4 million in liabilities.
Peace, who also was convicted in the case, said there were times he suggested that dogs unwilling to fight be given away, but that Vick said "they got to go," meaning be killed.
The dogs were killed by shooting, hanging, electrocution and drowning, and in at least one instance, according to one of the witnesses, when Vick and Phillips killed a red pit bull by "slamming it to the ground several times before it died, breaking the dog's back or neck."
When he finally admitted to his role in the dogfighting operation, Vick also said he purchased his first pull bull, named "Champagne," while a student at Virginia Tech in 1999. The dog was never used in fights, but was bred with other dogs, according to the report.
Champagne was among the 53 pit bulls seized from the home in a raid in April 2007.
Alot of people are complaining that he shouldn't have received such a harsh sentence because the victims were animals, but these crimes occurred in VIRGINIA which is a COMMONWEALTH (look the word up if you don't know what it means), but basically anyone living in VA or PA knows that commonwealths don't play. Their laws and penalities are alot stiffer than other non-commonwealth states. Additionally, he's just a plain old idiot, classic example of a BLACK MAN who came from NOTHING, got SOMETHING, and blew it all and back to NOTHING again. It's very sad.
@ NJadonis....good point, as it pertains to VA, PA and KY...Massachusetts is an exception because its so liberal.
To the topic....New Report, same information we already knew....Mike was the idiot of the century for even getting caught up in this scheme, but the man has been punished and done his time...Now its up to him to get out of prison and try to redeem his life.
OH COME ON NOW!! THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS TWO YEARS AGO. WE ALREADY KNOW THE MAN DID WRONG. HE SERVED HIS TIME AND PAID HIS DEBT TO SOCIETY. CAN WE JUST MOVE ON AND LET THIS MAN PLAY FOOTBALL.
I CAN'T WAIT TILL VICK GET BACK IN THE LEAGUE AND WIN A SUPERBOWL FOR YALL. QUIT KICKIN A MAN WHILE HE DOWN. HE'S LEARNED HIS LESSON. ITS LIKE PEOPLE WISHING FAILURE ON THIS MAN. NO LOYALTY NO MORE. 3 YEARS AGO YALL STAYED RIDIN THIS DUDE LIKE REDNECKS AND FORD TRUCKS.
AND BESIDES, WHAT CAN BE WORSE THAN SENDING HIM TO THE DETROIT LIONS. THAT'S A PRETTY HARSH PUNISHMENT IN ITSELF.
ya'll so stupid.. People care more about dogs than they do people.. ufck a damn dog.. they're nothin but roadkill in the end.. what one man does with his property is his business.. and Im so sick of hearing people defend these animals.. theres a stray on every block in some places. care more for people
This is old news. It is time to move on people. I don't even know how much of this I can believe coming from some snitch that was trying to save him or herself that surprisingly gets to remain anonymous and probaly didnt serve any jail time. It is funny how this report comes out in time for his plea hearing which is scheduled for Tuesday. Word play can overplay situations to make them more astounding than they really are. What kinds of injuries were caused? This is all for media hype. Obama has won the presidency and Palin is back in Alaska so there isn't much going on in the news. They need something. Leave the man alone already.
ALL OF YOU TAKING UP FOR HIM NEED TO BE IN HIS PLACE. WHAT KIND OF SANE PERSON NOT ONLY FIGHTS DOGS BUT KILLS THEM BY ELECTROCUTION, SHOOTING, HANGING AND SLAMMING THEM TO THE GROUND UNTIL THEY DIE? HE NEEDS TO BE IN AN ASYLUM AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED. PEOPLE WHO START OUT KILLING ANIMALS ARE NOT FAR AWAY FROM KILLING PEOPLE..DO SOMETHING USEFUL LIKE READ A BOOK ABOUT IT AND MAYBE YOU'D KNOW THAT. IDIOTS...
OH GAWD!
CUT THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BULL$HIT. THE MAN SERVED HIS TIME. LET HIM MOVE ON WITHOUT BRINGING UP $HIT HE DID YEARS AGO BEFORE HE SPENT TIME IN JAIL. ITS LIKE PEOPLE ARE PRAYING UPON THIS MAN TO BE A FAILURE.
LET HIM MOVE ON WITH HIS LIFE AND GO FIND ONE OF THE 3,000 OTHER PEOPLE ACROSS THE UNITED STATES FIGHTING DOGS.
I JUST DON'T GET PEOPLE. SO MUCH HATRED.
This man is serving his time for cruelty to dogs and etc. Sean Bell killers were set free! What is wrong with this here. Let Mr Vick serve his time and stop trying to make him a beast when punk jealous law enforcers personally abuse their authority and take the life of a man who can no longer do for his family. Who did Mike Vick dogs have to support?
"ya'll so stupid.. People care more about dogs than they do people.. ufck a damn dog.. they're nothin but roadkill in the end.. what one man does with his property is his business.. and Im so sick of hearing people defend these animals.. theres a stray on every block in some places. care more for people"
Whoever made that comment is an idiot. This was not just some regular broke dude from the hood doing this to get by, this was a millionare, the highest paid player in the NFL!! I'm not an amimal activist and personally I can't stand dogs but I think it takes someone extremly cruel and sociopathic to do what he did to helpless animals. And the worst thing about it is that he did it for fun, he did not need the money. People keep trying to say they went after him because he was black and all that other bull but wrong is wrong. Anyone that can drown, electrocute and beat a helpless animal to death with his bare hands and get amusement out of it is pure evil in my eyes, I don't have an ounce of sympathy for him, he deserves everything coming to him.
F*uck them dogs............................lol
I am getting ready to eat a PIG, HEN, TURKEY and COW for Thanksgiving...lmao
YOu b*tches shut up. Thats his business, like you really hurt that he killed a few dogs...You b*itches be praising h*oes for wearing Gator boots and furs...... AND FOR YOU COACH BAGS WEARING BIT*CHES......(fyi. I am one too).....animals are what they are animals. Some are pets, coats, shoes, bags, clothes, or to hunt. Whatever...... I rather a rapist or child molester go to jail then VICK.
F*uck them dogs.....FREE VICK
Wow. What an [EXPLETIVE]. I see that Joy and Bashment obviously are not educated. That's fine though. There are always some people that just don't get it. They were probably abused as children. I could elaborate and start getting angry and start preaching about all the things that are wrong here, but I won't. You both need to look at yourselves in the mirrors everyday and deal with your miserable, uneducated lives.
Micahel Vick should serve MORE time and they should make MORE of an example out of him. I don't understand how people can sit there and say "Whatever" or "Get over it" when Michael Vick is a coward. ANYONE who abuses their power over someone or something (a child, an animal, a WOMAN, even) is a coward. It IS disgusting, it IS shocking, especially when you're in the limelight because there are people that look up to you and there are people that expect more from you. It's one thing for people to eat meat (cow, turkey, whatever)-- me myself, not one of them, but it's another thing to abuse, slaughter and torment for mere pleasure. THAT'S cowardly. Chances are, Vick was abused as a child too and was too [EXPLETIVE] to stand up for himself. I hope he is getting A S S F U C K E D as we speak.
Vick was dumb as hell! BUT this is also just a damn dog, well a few of em. They were animals and yes, animals need to be treated right, but destroy someone's life and career??? Who gives a whopping shyt if he killed a damn dog? The city shoulda fined the hell outta his ass and let the man go back to work...
