One Year in Prison: Vick's Possible Plea Deal

Aug. 16, 2007 — -- Federal prosecutors have offered Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick a deal that includes a recommendation that he serve at least one year in prison on felony dogfighting conspiracy charges, the Virginian-Pilot reported today.

The fallen NFL star, who has been charged with violating federal dogfighting laws, has been considering a possible plea deal since Wednesday. Vick reportedly has until Friday at 9 a.m. to decide whether he will agree to the deal.

Vick has delayed his decision, because he is waiting to hear back from the NFL as to how a guilty plea would affect his NFL career, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Vick is the only defendant left in the case that has not yet agreed to a plea deal. Tony Taylor, 34, pleaded guilty and accepted a deal last month. Quantis Phillips, 28, and Purnell Peace, 35, are expected to accept plea deals when they appear in court Friday.

All three men reportedly have agreed to testify against Vick.

Meanwhile, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said he will wait until the NFL concludes its own investigation into the allegations to decide Vick's fate.

Earlier this week, the NFL denied information posted in a report on Yahoo Sports stating that Vick had been suspended from the upcoming regular season. So far, Vick has been banned only from attending the Falcon's training camp.

While visiting the Detroit Lions Thursday, Goodell also said that Vick and the dogfighting scandal is not "overshadowing the season."

"We're going to do what we always said we were going to do, which is rely on the facts," Goodell said. "If there is some type of a plea agreement, then we will obviously take the time to understand what that plea is, and we'll see how it fits into our personal conduct [policy]."

If Vick does not agree to a deal, prosecutors have said they plan to bring more charges against him and will hand down a superseding indictment later in the month.

Vick could still make a deal with respect to these additional charges, but prosecutors are likely to be less lenient the second time around.