Vick files for bankruptcy

[Teacher Mark 53]

His fall from grace has been truly amazing to me.

I imagine he will be able to play again for a few years and then will make a nice living as a motivational speaker, assuming he doesn't return to his old ways.

This reads like a bad novel. What a waste.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Vick

[slim 1,525]

I was actually surprised he would get as much time as he did given his celebrity status.

I mean, it looks like T.I. will get under a year in prison for purchasing silencers and machine guns.

The T.I. case was WAY different. T.I. wasn't the one that actually did anything. Sure, he was guilty of breaking the law, but it was one of his bodyguards/henchmen who did the actual purchasing. Michael Vick got his hands dirty. That's always cost more in terms of doing time. Plus, Vick was set up to be a scapegoat, T.I.'s guy was "caught."

It is hard to feel bad for those who went from nothing to everything to lose it again, albeit briefly.

All those thugs-turned-athletes and thugs-turned-rappers who "made it" only to lose it again are knuckleheads. Once you've "made it" you should know better than to break the law and take chances that could cost you everything. "Call the crib same number same hood, it's all good." BUMP THAT! Once you make it, you're no longer a knucklehead thug, you're a businessman! Michael Jordan didn't go to jail, did he? Once he felt John Q. Law breathin down his neck, he did what any businessman would do, he hired a good attorney and then stayed out of trouble til some other knucklehead messed up and took the heat off of him. Thanks R. Kelly! (Also a businessman who stayed out of trouble....)

That said, there seems to be a disproportionate amount of pursuit to bring down ex-thugs. Personally, I think what they did to Michael Vick was bull$#!t. So the man wanted to fight dogs that he bred, reared and owned; dogs that were bred for the purpose of fighting. Sure it's illegal, but since we're in America, do you think Peyton Manning would've been "hounded" so much if he were into that sort of thing? Absolutely not. It would've been passed off with a slap on the wrist and a "well, he's just a good ol' boy doing what good ol' boys do."

PETA is the real problem here. Well, that and a racially-biased justice system.

[zqt3344 21]

Hey where are the black leaders at now? Why are they not coming out and condemning this thug's criminal behaviour! Instead all we get is complete silence, why they could never speak out against a brother, even if he is a total criminal! Makes me wanna spew!

RICHMOND, Va. - Imprisoned quarterback Michael Vick filed for bankruptcy protection while serving time for federal dogfighting charges, saying he owes between US$10 million and $50 million to creditors.

Vick filed Chapter 11 papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newport News on Monday. The seven largest creditors listed in the court papers are owed a total of about $12.8 million.

Vick is serving a 23-month prison sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., after pleading guilty last year to bankrolling a dogfighting ring. He was subsequently suspended indefinitely without pay and lost all his major sponsors, including Nike. He also faces state charges related to dogfighting.

The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback "will seek to rebuild his life and career" upon his release, according to the filings.

The debt includes part of a signing bonus that the Falcons are seeking to recover.

After the plea on dogfighting charges, the Falcons tried to recover about $20 million in bonuses Vick earned from 2004 to 2007. But a federal judge held that Vick is entitled to keep all but $3.75 million of the money paid to him for playing football through the 2014 season.

According to the filings, Vick's other debts include $4.5 million owed to Richmond-based Joel Enterprises Inc., and $550,0000 owed to Radtke Sports Inc. for breach of contract.

In May, a federal judge ordered Vick to repay about $2.5 million to the Royal Bank of Canada for defaulting on a loan. The bank had sued Vick in September, arguing his guilty plea to a federal dogfighting charge - and the resulting impact on his career - prevented him from repaying the loan.

A default judgment for $1.08 million also was entered in January against Vick and a business partner in a lawsuit brought by Wachovia Bank over a loan for an Atlanta-area wine shop and restaurant.

link

hope it was worth it, azzhat!

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

follow up..........

Vick wants to play, but what team would risk it?

Michael Vick lives in a prison in Kansas, making 12 cents an hour while plotting his return to the NFL. His houses and farms will soon be gone, the two yachts are history, and he’s down to his last couple of Range Rovers.

A race horse he bought for $60,000 died of colic, the Atlanta Falcons are still trying to hit him up for millions they paid him, and the IRS and the state of Georgia want nearly $1 million in back taxes.

In 2006 he made nearly $15 million. Recently he reported total income of $12.89 for an entire month.

That’s $12.89 as in 12 dollars and 89 cents. This from someone who, before things went terribly bad, categorized a $1,000 check to his mother as “chump change.”

The numbers are cold, but they have to warm the heart of any animal lover sickened by what once went on at Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels. To many, seeing Vick stripped of the material things he and his fellow millionaire athletes like to enjoy is almost as good as watching him go to prison in the first place.

Best of all, the dogs who survived the terror of Vick’s dogfighting ring are having the last laugh.

They’re the stars of a recent National Geographic Channel television special. They live in comfort in a Utah ranch, thanks to $928,000 Vick agreed to contribute to finance their care.

And now they have their own wine.

Yes, there’s Meryl, looking anything but ferocious on a bottle of Syrah. And there’s Lewis, peeking out from the front of another Vicktory Dog bottle.

Maybe Vick can pick up a $40 bottle when he gets out of prison next July, assuming things go as planned. If he’s careful about not spending his prison earnings in the commissary, he could be paroled with enough to buy a couple of them.

He shouldn’t drink too much, though. Because he’s still got some football to play.

Buried in the hundreds of pages of paper detailing Vick’s financial woes the other day in federal bankruptcy court was the declaration that not only does Vick expect to be reinstated in the NFL upon his release but also believes he will “be able to earn a substantial living” playing quarterback once again.

Good luck with that.

Just what team he believes will employ him to do so wasn’t mentioned, but the Falcons are surely out. They severed their ties with the quarterback they once were sure would lead them to a Super Bowl and are now being led by a quarterback who has been so good in his rookie season that he just might.

Vick is supposed to be released July 20, so he could be out just in time for the opening of preseason camps. But how many teams are so desperate for a quarterback that they would risk the ire of PETA-types and other animal activists to sign an ex-con who admitted to doing some heinous things?

The other question is how much would they risk for a quarterback who has a career passing rating of 75.7, fumbles the ball once every 10 times he carries it, and hasn’t played a down in two years. Quarterbacks who could run were once the rage in the NFL, but most teams today look for the traditional pocket passer.

If a team did take a chance on Vick, it would likely be for little or no guaranteed money with incentives kicking in only if he produces—something that can never be certain in the NFL, where injuries and age can quickly take their toll. Even then, Vick won’t keep all his salary because under his bankruptcy plan he must pay part of any future earnings to creditors.

Indeed, Vick’s financial mess is as much a cautionary tale to his fellow athletes as his criminal woes are.

He has assets of $16 million but owes creditors $20.3 million. His attorneys had to hire forensic accountants to find out where the money went, $18 million of it over the last two years alone as Vick bounced from one business deal to another and seemed to hire financial advisers he met standing in line at the supermarket.

Flush with bonus money from the Falcons, Vick bought houses by the handful, invested in a rental car franchise in Atlanta and poured money into a liquor store and restaurant. He hired friends, gave away money and cars, and could never say no to his mother, who got $700 for an Easter Egg hunt one year and $317,000 for a new church building the next.

Now he sits in a prison in Kansas after a staggering and quick fall from the top. Once a favorite of fans who couldn’t buy enough of his No. 7 jerseys he’s now vilified and hated by millions who will never forgive the despicable things he and his buddies did to their dogs.

A comeback is still possible, but my guess is that this story will not end well. Upon his release from prison, the odds are Vick will spend more time dodging creditors than defensive linemen.

The dogs are a different story. Those that survived will live in comfort the rest of their lives.

And for that, we should all raise a glass of Lewis red in celebration.

link

[MrsCat 6]

^ to wage any sort of comeback in the NFL Vick is going to need some serious PR and keep his mouth shut. However I doubt $12.89 is going to get anything more than perhaps a one day internet connection at the local airport.

I loved Vick back in the day. What a despicable ** for doing what he did. Anyone who could achieve what he did in life and destroy that through he own active choices deserves nothing. He didn't respect the life of his dogs just like he didn't respect the loyalty of his fans.

[JVKn'CVO 11]

GOOD!

Saludos,

Caro

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

^ to wage any sort of comeback in the NFL Vick is going to need some serious PR and keep his mouth shut. However I doubt $12.89 is going to get anything more than perhaps a one day internet connection at the local airport.

I loved Vick back in the day. What a despicable ** for doing what he did. Anyone who could achieve what he did in life and destroy that through he own active choices deserves nothing. He didn't respect the life of his dogs just like he didn't respect the loyalty of his fans.

he's right down the road from here.

[mawilson 2,133]

RICHMOND, Va. - Imprisoned quarterback Michael Vick filed for bankruptcy protection while serving time for federal dogfighting charges, saying he owes between US$10 million and $50 million to creditors.

Maybe he could start an illegal dog-fighting ring to pay off his debt?

[britty 1]

He is a sick, evil, monster and should be left to rot. I hope his entire life is destroyed and he spends the rest of it in misery. Lets hope he ends it all soon.

[MrsCat 6]

he's right down the road from here.

How did he manage time in Kansas, when I thought the crime was in ATL? Just curious.

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

he's right down the road from here.

How did he manage time in Kansas, when I thought the crime was in ATL? Just curious.

there's a fed pen here.

[Danno 1,228]

He is a sick, evil, monster and should be left to rot. I hope his entire life is destroyed and he spends the rest of it in misery. Lets hope he ends it all soon.

It's interesting the amount of unique hate, Vick has garnered.

I don't think I go too far when I say, "OJ" failed to generate the amount of HATE for slashing the

throats of two people .....as Vic has for what he did to animals.

[britty 1]

He is a sick, evil, monster and should be left to rot. I hope his entire life is destroyed and he spends the rest of it in misery. Lets hope he ends it all soon.

It's interesting the amount of unique hate, Vick has garnered.

I don't think I go too far when I say, "OJ" failed to generate the amount of HATE for slashing the

throats of two people .....as Vic has for what he did to animals.

OJ can be disposed of too. Pointless keeping either of these bastards alive.

[Amby 490]

boo hoo