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From the Ajc.com

Falcons quarterback Michael Vick’s NFL career is stuck in limbo as his remaining two co-defendants cut deals with prosecutors Friday, leaving him to face federal dogfighting charges alone.

Prosecutors revealed mounting evidence in the case this week as Vick considered whether to strike his own plea deal. That included evidence that Vick posed in a picture with the three other co-defendants and a pit bull before a dogfight and participated in the execution of eight dogs in April.

Vick has been suspended by the NFL pending a league investigation of the case. His trial is scheduled for Nov. 26. And after a week of legal maneuverings his future in the NFL is still no clearer.

His attorneys have been negotiating a plea agreement, two people with knowledge of the negotiations told the Journal-Constitution this week. Federal prosecutors had warned Vick that he must agree to a plea deal Friday or face more serious charges – including at least one racketeering charge — as part of a superseding indictment next week, the two people with knowledge of the negotiations said.

Also, Gerald Poindexter, the Commonwealth’s attorney for Surry County, where Vick allegedly operated his dogfighting business, said the evidence revealed in federal court Friday solidified his plans to move forward with his own case.

It’s unclear what will happen in Vick’s case now that the deadline has passed with no paperwork filed with the federal court. The U.S. attorney’s office in Richmond has declined to comment on the case.

"I am under the impression that the government wants a plea, if at all, by the end of this week. But there is no plea [agreement] at this point," Daniel Meachum one of Vick’s attorneys, told V-103 FM radio Friday.

On Friday, co-defendants Quanis Phillips, 28, of Atlanta, and Purnell Peace, 35, of Virginia Beach, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy related to dogfighting, joining a third co-defendant Tony Taylor, 34, of Hampton, Va., who entered a guilty plea last month.

In a statement of facts he signed with prosecutors, Peace said Vick posed for a photo with him and the other co-defendants along with a female pit bull they were about to sponsor in a dogfight in North Carolina four years ago.

The document says Vick, Peace, Phillips and Taylor — who referred to themselves as Bad Newz Kennels — traveled from Virginia to North Carolina with a female pit bull named "Jane" to participate in a dogfight against another pit bull owned by an organization called "Lockjaw Kennels."

"Prior to this fight," the statement says, "all four ’Bad Newz Kennels’ members took a picture with ’Jane.’ "

Also, Vick joined Peace and Phillips in executing eight dogs that didn’t think would fight well in or about April 25 by various means, including hanging and drowning, Peace and Phillips said in statements they signed with prosecutors. According to the statements, the dogs died as a collective effort of the three men.

Peace told prosecutors that Vick paid him $3,000 a month to take care of pit bulls on Vick’s property in rural Surry County. Peace, who goes by the nickname "P-Funk," became the primary caretaker of the dogs after Taylor left the operation following a disagreement with Phillips, the statement says.

Vick, nicknamed "Ookie," almost exclusively bankrolled their dogfighting business and related gambling, Peace, Phillips and Taylor have told prosecutors.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank told the AJC Friday, prior to a preseason game in Buffalo, that the events of the day were troubling and that once all the facts were known the organization would act "swiftly and decisively."

Peace and Phillips will be sentenced on Nov. 30. Taylor has a sentencing date of Dec. 14. Along with Vick, they each face up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

When he talked to Peace and Phillips about sentencing them, U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson warned they could face stiffer penalties than normal because of the circumstances in the case.

"In your case, there will be an upward departure (in sentencing). There are aggravated circumstances in this case, no doubt about it," Hudson told Phillips.

Hudson also confronted Phillips for testing positive for drugs while out on bond. Hudson ordered him into federal custody. Phillips also confirmed that he was also on probation for an offense in Atlanta. And Hudson referred to how Phillips had two prior convictions for drug distribution and one for drug possession. Peace was released. Attorneys for the two men declined to comment outside the courthouse.

One of Vick’s attorneys, Lawrence Woodward, sat with reporters in the jammed courtroom and following the hearings talked to defense and prosecuting attorneys. He declined to comment afterward on whether Vick would join the others in taking a plea deal.

Poindexter said he still plans to prosecute Vick and others on animal cruelty and dogfighting charges.

"The execution of these animals — and the manner in which they were executed — is startlingly offensive and demanding of prosecution," said Poindexter, who had come under public criticism for not pursing the case before federal prosecutors took it over.

Poindexter said he would probably submit his case to a grand jury scheduled to convene Sept. 25. He has not determined which charges he will file but said he would aggressively prosecute based on previously acquired evidence and information presented in the federal case. Dogfighting and animal cruelty are felonies in Virginia with animal cruelty charges holding penalties of up to five years in jail for each animal killed.

Poindexter said Thursday he had not given up pursuing the case when the federal government indicted Vick last month. But there was nothing he could do.

"The federal government took my evidence," he said, "and took my witnesses."

In Surry County, Sheriff H.D. Brown said he was present during a search of Vick’s compound.

This week, Brown described the fighting ring as a second floor room in one of the buildings behind the main house with carpet that appeared to be blood stained. He said crates were arrayed around the ring for spectators to sit.

"What got me was everything inside was painted black," said Brown. "Everything."

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