More on Vick Co-defendant Pleading Guilty
At least one of these guys got smart.
Thanks to Brandy and Diesel Blue for barling in this news from Yahoo News.
Vick co-defendant pleads to conspiracy
By LARRY O’DELL, Associated Press WriterRICHMOND, Va. - One of Michael Vick’s co-defendants pleaded guilty Monday to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges in a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Tony Taylor, 34, who will be sentenced Dec. 14, said he was not promised any specific sentence in return for his cooperation with the government.
Taylor faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but likely will get less under federal sentencing guidelines. The guideline range will be determined by court officials, and U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson can depart from that range if he finds aggravating or mitigating circumstances.“You’re pleading guilty and taking your chances, right?” Hudson asked Taylor.
He responded, “Yes.”
Taylor had the same answer when Hudson asked: “You have agreed to cooperate fully with the United States, is that right?”
Taylor, of Hampton, entered his plea to conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture.
Vick, the star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, and two other co-defendants pleaded not guilty last week to the same charges.
Taylor and his attorney, Stephen A. Hudgins of Newport News, refused to answer reporters’ questions as they left the federal courthouse after the 15-minute hearing.
Prosecutors claimed in a July 17 indictment that Taylor found the Surry County property that Vick purchased and used as the site of “Bad Newz Kennels,” a dogfighting enterprise. Taylor also allegedly helped purchase pit bulls and killed at least two dogs that fared poorly in test fights.
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I have to give Mr. Taylor a high mark for at least admitting culpability. But I have to take that mark away because of what he admits he took part in doing. I don’t know how people can live with themselves after doing what they have done, but they can’t have a very high regard for life or for the different forms which constitute “life”. Humans are supposed to be at the top of the scale, but we continuously prove that we are much closer to the bottom by the inhumane ways we find to torture, abuse and kill other “animals”. Shame on us.
I wouldn’t give them any marks for anything either. They’re the walking dead. What they did to those poor helpless dogs, that could have been in loving families and played out their roll as man’s best friend as God intended them to be. Dogs were meant to help us in our journey through life… for them To do what they did to those dogs… is the work of the devils helpers!