Co-defendent to rat Vick out?

[Big Dakota]

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - One of Michael Vick's co-defendants doesn't want to wait for trial.

Instead, a plea agreement hearing has been scheduled for Tony Taylor at 9 a.m. Monday in the federal dogfighting conspiracy case.

Taylor's hearing was added to U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson's docket Friday, a day after he and the other three defendants pleaded not guilty before the same judge. Vick and the others still are scheduled for trial Nov. 26.
Prosecutors claim Taylor, 34, found the Surry County property purchased by Vick and used it as the site of "Bad Newz Kennels," a dogfighting enterprise. The Hampton man also allegedly helped purchase pit bulls and killed at least two dogs that fared poorly in test fights.
Taylor's lawyer, Stephen Ashton Hudgins of Newport News, did not immediately return a phone message, and federal prosecutors have declined to talk about the case.

Michael Vick indicted

An 18-page indictment issued July 17 charged the four men with conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture. The maximum punishment is five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.
According to the indictment, the dogfighting ring executed underperforming dogs by drowning, hanging and other brutal means. It alleges that the fights offered purses as high as $26,000.
The gruesome details outlined in the indictment have fueled protests and public outrage against Vick, the star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has banned Vick from the Falcons' training camp while the league investigates.

Charged along with Vick and Taylor are Purnell A. Peace, 35, of Virginia Beach, and Quanis L. Phillips, 28, of Atlanta.
All four remain free without bond. When U.S. Magistrate Dennis Dohnal set the conditions for their release Thursday, he commended Taylor for admitting to using illegal drugs despite never being convicted of a drug offense. He ordered periodic drug testing for Taylor.
Peace and Phillips each have drug convictions and were ordered to submit to testing, as well as an electronic monitoring program. Taylor was spared the electronic monitoring. Neither drug testing nor monitoring were ordered for Vick.
__________________

 

[Big Dakota]

Taylor's cooperation could help U.S. prove conspiracy vs. Vick

By Lester Munson
ESPN.com


Tony Taylor's expected plea of guilty -- and with it, his future cooperation with prosecutors -- adds to an already impressive array of evidence against Michael Vick in the federal government's dogfighting case against the Atlanta Falcons quarterback.

Taylor is due to enter his guilty plea at 9 a.m. Monday at U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va. His hearing was added to U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson's docket Friday, a day after he and the other three defendants including Vick pleaded not guilty before the same judge.

Taylor was, according to the federal indictment, in the middle of the dogfighting scheme from the beginning. The indictment says Taylor, along with Vick and co-defendant Quanis Phillips, in 2001 "decided to start a venture aimed at sponsoring American Pit Bull Terriers in dog fighting competitions."

When Taylor describes these conversations with Vick and Phillips, it will be powerful evidence against Vick, establishing the conspiracy and opening the door to a mountain of other evidence against Vick. Taylor can establish the conspiracy all by himself, multiplying Vick's problems as he attempts to answer these charges.
The indictment, issued July 17, charged the four men with conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture. The maximum punishment is five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

As the scheme grew, according to the indictment, Taylor played a central role. When it was time to build three large sheds to stage fights and to house dogs and equipment, Taylor obtained the necessary permits from the authorities in Surry County. He applied for the building permit for the sheds on May 2, 2003, according to records maintained by Wallace Mavin, the Surry County Building Official, and he paid the necessary fees even though Vick's name was listed as the owner and the applicant. Taylor described himself as Vick's "agent," in the documents. The house and shed, according to applications filed in May 2003, cost $362,000.


Prosecutors claim Taylor, 34, of Hampton, also allegedly helped purchase pit bulls and killed at least two dogs that fared poorly in test fights.

It will be powerful evidence against Vick, putting Vick and his money squarely in the middle of the scheme and its growth and development.

The charges in the indictment also show that Taylor can describe Vick as personally present at fights and at executions of dogs who did not perform well enough for Vick and his cohorts.

Taylor's plea of guilty comes at a critical time. Michael Gill, the assistant U.S. Attorney leading the prosecution, announced on Thursday that he would file a superceding indictment by the end of next month. The superceding indictment is likely to add charges to the gruesome charges already on file. Taylor made his bargain with the federal prosecutors before they were able to add anything to the charges already filed against him.

In addition to the tactical reasons for his plea, Taylor has been reported to feel that Vick betrayed him. Shortly after the first raid on the Vick fifteen-acre compound on Moonlight Road in Surry County, according to various reports, Vick had Taylor thrown off the property. It was part of Vick's effort to distance himself from the dog fighting operation, an effort that also include a hasty sale of the property. The sale has not yet been finalized.


Even in the hearings on Thursday, Taylor was separating himself from Vick and the others. Vick, Phillips and Purnell Peace all appeared in court dressed in suits and ties. Taylor showed up in baggy, low slung jeans and a wrinkled yellow shirt. Vick, Phillips and Peace ignored Taylor during the short hearings and never looked at him as they gathered in the courtroom before the hearing began.
ESPN's Kelly Naqi reported that according to sources, Taylor and Vick had a falling out in their relationship about three years ago. ESPN.com's Lester Munson is a Chicago lawyer and journalist who has been reporting on investigative and legal issues in the sports industry for 18 years. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

 

[sago1]

Rating him out? I'm glad to see one of these guys step forward and own up to what he did particularly if it helps prove Vick was involved in this whole horrible scheme from the very beginning.

 

[Big Dakota]

Rating him out? I'm glad to see one of these guys step forward and own up to what he did particularly if it helps prove Vick was involved in this whole horrible scheme from the very beginning.

MSNBC's words, not mine.

 

[skinsscalper]

Rating him out? I'm glad to see one of these guys step forward and own up to what he did particularly if it helps prove Vick was involved in this whole horrible scheme from the very beginning.

Owning up?! That's laughable. The guy is out to save his own ***. Don't get me wrong, I hope he brings information that will get a conviction, but to hold this guy's actions up as honorable by being a rat to save himself is hardly a commendable personality trait.

SS

 

[Twyst]

this guy left the ring over a year before it was busted and was expectedto be the one to turn.

 

[dmq]

Owning up?! That's laughable. The guy is out to save his own ***. Don't get me wrong, I hope he brings information that will get a conviction, but to hold this guy's actions up as honorable by being a rat to save himself is hardly a commendable personality trait.

SS

I agree. I'd like this guy to fry too.

 

[Big Dakota]

NONE of these guys would have been able to run a big operation like this without Vick's cash, so i say however they get Vick is cool with me.

 

[superpunk]

NONE of these guys would have been able to run a big operation like this without Vick's cash, so i say however they get Vick is cool with me.

Because noone in the history of the universe has ever been able to run a large organized crime scene without the backing of major dollars up front, right?

 

[Big Dakota]

Because noone in the history of the universe has ever been able to run a large organized crime scene without the backing of major dollars up front, right?

That's right Borat breath. OBTW i though you were gone? Real brave of you.

 

[superpunk]

That's right Borat breath.

Actually it's not. I was being sarcastic to demonstrate the stupidity of the notion.

 

[Sarge]

They're all cowards.

 

[joseephuss]

Owning up?! That's laughable. The guy is out to save his own ***. Don't get me wrong, I hope he brings information that will get a conviction, but to hold this guy's actions up as honorable by being a rat to save himself is hardly a commendable personality trait.

SS

Where did he say that his actions were honorable or that it was a commendable personality trait?

 

[Concord]

I don't care who rats who out as long as they get POS Ookie.

 

[skinsscalper]

Where did he say that his actions were honorable or that it was a commendable personality trait?

When you use the term "owning up", it's an an implication (atleast in every sense that I've ever heard the term used) that this person is taking personal accountability for his actions. That act is, by many, considered "honorable".

Honor is, typically, a commendable personality trait (in case it's slipped passed you to this point).

The fact is that this guy had an appearant "falling out" with Vick and is ussing this situation as a tool to reduce his own sentence and stick a knife in the back of a fellow criminal by "ratting him out" is not "owning up".

He's ratting out, not "owning up". There's a difference in the commendability for each act. One infers honor the other, well, the other infers a chicken****.

Was that spelled out simple enough?

SS

 

[Rampage]

snitch! but thats cool cause i hate animal abusers

 

[Pats Fan]

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

I was reading USA Today on Friday and there was an article on Lindsey Lowhan (did I spell that right). Quite frankly I don't know a single thing she has done, I think she is an actress, but never saw a film of hers. It's all this Hilton, Richie thing.

Anyway, she was drunk driving in a car and told the people she was with, don't worry about my driving -- apparently she was driving about 100 miles per hour. She said - I am famous and they don't do anything to famous people. I read it and took pause. I guess that should be expanded to say, I am rich and I can get away with anything.

Well, I don't know about you, but it puts a bad taste in my mouth.

Vick is a sorry a** loser. And a mean one to boot. But his attitude like Hilton and the rest of these losers is -- we can do whatever we what, whenever we want and we get away with it. Hilton, cry me a river. Boo-hoo, ask me if I care. Vick, boo-hoo, cry me a river, ask me if I care.

We need to start throwing the book at these sorry a** losers.

Can we have some integrity in football at least. Such a great game. Throw these bums out, flat out, get out, stay out.

Vick is an arrogant a**. MEAN arrogant a**. Let's see how the sun shines on you when you are a nobody.

Me, I want the full extent of the law thrown at him. Oh, you too Lowhan and Hilton. Go directly to jail, do not pass go. Out with you.

 

[joseephuss]

When you use the term "owning up", it's an an implication (atleast in every sense that I've ever heard the term used) that this person is taking personal accountability for his actions. That act is, by many, considered "honorable".

Honor is, typically, a commendable personality trait (in case it's slipped passed you to this point).

The fact is that this guy had an appearant "falling out" with Vick and is ussing this situation as a tool to reduce his own sentence and stick a knife in the back of a fellow criminal by "ratting him out" is not "owning up".

He's ratting out, not "owning up". There's a difference in the commendability for each act. One infers honor the other, well, the other infers a chicken****.

Was that spelled out simple enough?

SS

Seems like you are making a lot of assumptions based on one single comment.

 

[Q_the_man]

Just wondering, did all u guys feel this way when Irvin, Newton, Eric Williams, Leon Lett, were always in trouble with the law.....not the vick case but in terms of everytime someone gets stopped by the law, alot of guys on this board calls them idoits off the top and say they should be banned for life......I'm just wondering if Ware or Romo were to get in trouble would the same guys feel the same way....

 

[skinsscalper]

Seems like you are making a lot of assumptions based on one single comment.

Seems like you don't understand the term "owning up" or the spirit behind it.

The original poster may not have INTENDED to make the person sound admirable (no harm, no foul), but using that term (owning up) makes an inference of such.

The ONLY assumption that I'm making is that he meant exactly what he typed, exactly how he typed it.

Sorry if that ruffles your feathers, bro. I wasn't trying to attack the original poster, just disagreeing with his sentiment. It's a message board and that type of thing happens from time to time. Strange, I know, but very common.

It doesn't mean that I think the guy is a total idiot (just as I don't think the back and forth banter between you and I qualifies you or myself as an idiot), or that anything that he types from here on out is without merit (ditto to you). Merely a simple difference in point of view on a particular subject.


If that rubs you the wrong way then I, honestly, don't know what to tell you. Peace.


SS