Michael Vick is out of prison and headed home, broke and reviled for running a vicious dogfighting ring, but hopeful for a second chance at his once-charmed life as a star NFL quarterback.
The suspended quarterback served 19 months in prison on the dogfighting conviction that capped one of the most astonishing falls in sports history — one that stole his wealth and popularity.
Here’s how it played out.
April 25, 2007
Police raid Vick’s Virginia property and find several neglected pit bulls and evidence of dogfighting.
June 7, 2007
Federal investigators raid Vick’s property.
July 17, 2007
Vick charged by a federal grand jury in Richmond, Va., with conspiring to engage in competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting, and conducting the enterprise across state lines.
July 26, 2007
Vick and his co-defendants plead not guilty to the charges.
Aug. 23, 2007
Vick signs plea agreement and statement of facts admitting to conspiracy in a dogfighting ring and helping kill pit bulls. He denies betting on the fights, only bankrolling them.
Aug. 24, 2007
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspends Vick indefinitely.
Aug. 27, 2007
Vick pleads guilty to dogfighting conspiracy before U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson. At a news conference, Vick apologizes for “using bad judgment and making bad decisions. I offer my deepest apologies to everyone. And I will redeem myself. I have to.”
Nov. 20, 2007
Vick surrenders to U.S. marshals and begins serving his sentence in a Virginia jail three weeks before his official sentencing.
Dec. 10, 2007
Vick is sentenced to 23 months in federal prison.
Nov. 25, 2008
Vick appears in a Virginia courtroom to plead guilty to a state dogfighting charge and receives a three-year suspended sentence.
Wednesday
Vick is released from the Leavenworth, Kan., prison to begin two months of home confinement at his Hampton, Va., home.
