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Vick's dogfighting co-defendant pleads guilty
Doesn't bode well for NFL star's defence, observers say
McClatchy-Tribune News Services
Published: Monday, July 30, 2007

NORFOLK, Va. - A co-defendant's decision to take a plea deal in the Michael Vick dogfighting case does not bode well for the NFL star's defense against a federal conspiracy charge, legal observers said Saturday.

Tony Taylor, one of three men indicted along with Vick on allegations they conspired to create and run a dogfighting venture, has a plea agreement hearing set for 9 a.m. Monday in U.S. District Court in Richmond. The hearing was added Friday to the docket of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson, the same judge who accepted not-guilty pleas from all four men at their arraignment Thursday.

"If I'm a defense attorney, the last thing I want to hear is that my co-defendant is pleading out," said Andrew Protogyrou, a Norfolk defense attorney who has practiced in federal courts for 21 years.

"I think it's bad for all three" of the other co-defendants, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond School of Law.

Vick said in a statement Thursday that he looked forward to clearing his name and asked the public to withhold judgment until all the facts of the case are revealed. One of Vick's three defense attorneys read the statement for him after his arraignment.

Now, Vick's defense team may have to deal with someone who has intimate knowledge of the facts cooperating with prosecutors.

An 18-page indictment filed in support of the conspiracy charges portrays Taylor, 34, as closely involved with the pit bull fighting venture during its inception and early years.

Taylor's name, however, is absent in the written allegations from late 2004 to 2007.

At the group's arraignment Thursday, Taylor showed up in jeans and a short-sleeved shirt. Vick and the two other co-defendants, Quanis L. Phillips and Purnell A. Peace, arrived in suits and ties.

It was not clear from their demeanor in the courtroom whether all the men were speaking to one another.

The standard agreement in a federal plea deal requires the cooperating person to give full and accurate information to investigators, Protogyrou said. The incentive is usually a lesser charge or a roughly 50 percent cut in prison sentence, he said.

A cooperating co-defendant doesn't necessarily mean prosecutors suddenly have a rock-solid case against Vick, Protogyrou and Tobias said. They said Taylor might have more information against the other co-defendants.

With only four defendants, however, the chances are better that Taylor's testimony will affect Vick, Protogyrou said.

"It is one of the great fears of any defendant and any defense attorney when a co-defendant pleads and offers information," Protogyrou said.

In 2002, Taylor was listed as the registered agent in the articles of organization for MV7, a limited liability company bearing Vick's initials and his Atlanta Falcons jersey number.

The company listed its office address at 1915 Moonlight Road in Surry County. That's the same rural property that federal prosecutors allege Taylor scouted in May 2001 as a "suitable location for housing and training pit bulls for fighting."

Vick bought the land in June 2001 and later built a house there. A criminal investigation into possible dogfighting at the property began in late April of this year, when police searched the home and found more than 50 pit bulls and items associated with dog fighting.

MV7 LLC was also listed on a Web site for "Vicks' K-9 Kennels." The Web site, which is no longer active, said the outfit breeds pit bulls for sale and stated in a disclaimer that it did not promote, support or raise dogs for fighting.

Taylor's name was also listed on at least two Surry County kennel licenses that allowed more dogs to be kept at 1915 Moonlight Road. Taylor paid the $40 fee for a 2004 license, according to the county record. His name was also listed on a 2006 license, but that fee was paid by Charles Reamon Jr., a close Vick associate, the record shows.

In October 2004, the Oaks Veterinary Clinic in Smithfield obtained a $145.50 civil judgment against Taylor, according to court records.

In one search of the Vick property, authorities recovered a two-page document from the veterinary clinic, along with other dog-related evidence. The warrant did not explain the details of the document.

At the bond hearing Thursday in the federal conspiracy case, U.S. Magistrate Dennis Dohnal ordered Taylor to undergo substance abuse screening and to receive any prescribed treatment as a term of his release. Before placing the condition, Dohnal commended Taylor for his "candid admission" to court authorities of drug use in the "recent past."

Taylor was arrested in 1996 in Newport News on a cocaine possession charge; it was dismissed after he completed a substance-abuse program and one year of good behavior.

The federal indictment alleges that Vick and the three co-defendants ran an outfit called Bad Newz Kennels that groomed pit bulls to fight, crossed state lines to gamble on matches, and executed dogs that lost or performed poorly. The methods included shooting, hanging, drowning, electrocution and slamming at least one dog to the ground, the indictment says.

Hudson set a Nov. 26 trial date for the case.

© Virginian-Pilot 2007