Vick Arrives Home For House Arrest

Former NFL Star Will Spend Final 2 Months Of 23-Month Sentence In Home Confinement

(CBS/AP)  Suspended NFL star Michael Vick arrived at his Virginia home in a car with blackout curtains Thursday after being released from federal prison to begin home confinement and try to resume his pro football career.

Vick, who threw away a $130 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons by running a dogfighting ring, is serving the last two months of his sentence at home. He's wearing an electronic tracking bracelet and will only be permitted to leave to work as a $10-an-hour construction laborer, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

Four cars pulled up to Vick's five-bedroom brick home at the end of a cul-de-sac at about 8:25 a.m Thursday. The caravan was led by a black Kia Sedona with curtains shielding the back seat from view and sunshields on the front side windows. Vick was in the Sedona along with his fiancee, Kijafa Frink, said Chris Garrett, a member of Vick's support and legal team.

"He's happy to be reunited with his family," Garrett said 10 minutes after the cars arrived.

About 90 minutes later, two probation officers and Vick's Virginia-based attorney, Larry Woodward, arrived. The officers outfitted Vick with an electronic monitoring device he will wear for the two months he spends under home confinement. They walked with him onto his back deck to make sure it was working properly.

They did not answer reporters' questions.

In a brief statement, Woodward said Vick is technically a furloughed federal inmate and not permitted to speak with the media without permission from the Bureau of Prisons. The process to obtain that permission is underway, Woodward said, but he did not say how long it will take or entertain any questions before driving away.

The statement capped a whirlwind 2½ hours.

When the caravan arrived, a man got out of the lead vehicle and moved aside orange cones blocking the driveway, then the Sedona drove into a garage on the side of the house and out of sight of the street. The other three cars followed. Two men, presumably security guards who were part of the traveling party, stood in the driveway and three others took up posts near the front door as though to prevent anyone from approaching. The guards also walked around to the back yard, checking the in-ground pool area surrounded by a wrought-iron fence for intruders.

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Ex-NFL player Tony Mandarich weighs in on Vick's odds at a second chance

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Vick also remained mostly out of sight emerging only briefly, accompanied by a probation officer on the deck behind the five-bedroom house as they tested the electronic monitor Vick will wear for two months.

Vick spent 19 months in federal prison after his conviction for financing a dogfighting operation. Once released at about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Vick traveled the 1,200 miles in about 28 hours to get to the home, which he will share with Frink and their two children - the youngest of whom, London, was born just before he went to prison.

He will spend the next two months being monitored at home and working the construction job. He's scheduled to be released from federal custody on July 20, and then faces three more years of supervised probation.

Vick's construction job is part of his probation, and he was to find out more about the restrictions he faces in home confinement from the probation officers, though it was not clear if those guideline were laid out Thursday.

The ex-Virginia Tech star, who condoned drowning and hanging under-performing dogs, now claims he wants to prevent dog-fighting, Orr reports. He made that promise when he met with Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle.

"We're not convinced that he's a changed man but we do believe that he should have the chance to try to make good and to try to eradicate dog fighting in this country, Pacelle told Orr.

But Dawn Schweickert is skeptical. Schweikert and her husband are working to rehabilitate Mabel and Archie two of the beagles that Vick had intended to use as bait in training his fighters at the Bad Newz Kennels.

"They were very, very scared very skittish," she told Orr. But now, "They are so happy they dance around they bark they kiss us. You wouldn't even have known that they were abused."

Another adopter, Shaun Brantley of Chesapeake, brought Vick's 4-year-old pit bull Caesar to Vick's neighborhood as a reminder of the dogs killed in the dogfighting operation.

"It's really inhumane what he did," said Brantley, 30. "He deserves a whole lot more than what he got."

Jason Boesen of Hampton, who wore a No. 7 Vick Falcons jersey, took the opposite view.

"Everyone deserves a second chance," said Boesen, 23. "There's people in the NFL that have done worse than him."

Vick's ultimate goal is a return to the NFL. Chief among his challenges is rehabilitating his image and convincing the public and Commissioner Roger Goodell that he is truly sorry for his crime, and prepared to live a different life.

"It goes beyond, 'Has he paid his debt to society?' Because I think that from a legal standpoint and financially and personally, he has," Falcons owner Arthur Blank said at an NFL owners' meeting Wednesday.

[andie52]

Michael Vick was released from prison early this morning after less than two years behind bars and is headed back to Hampton, Virginia, where he'll serve the final two months of his sentence under house arrest.

In January, after a U.S. Department of Agriculture report on Vick's dogfighting activities revealed that Vick had enjoyed placing family pets in the ring with the pit bulls he'd bred, raised, and trained to fight

This went on for 5 years before he was even arrested so what we saw on Dog town was the tip of the iceberg,

What he and his cronies did for those 5 years was despicable he doesn?t deserve a second chance.without a full psychiatric evaluation and even then I wouldn?t trust him not to pull something like this again. The fact they revelled in it while making millions of dollars makes it even more so.

[watch09]

The man was sentenced for his crime, has done what the system requires him to do and it is time to let it go. I didn't particularly like Michael Vick before but he was a talented player. I sure didn't agree with his activities with the dogs but he lost quite a bit in prestige, money, respect and most of all free time in this world. It is up to him to see if he can climb back up on top and show if he is an athlete and citizen worth a second chance or if he is going to hang with the bangers and thugs of the street and fall again into the ghetto world. Athletics, drugs and crime do not match and it is time for the wannabe athletes to realize this and bring sports back to their heydays of respect. Let the man prove himself one way or the other.

[observer2020]

He should have to live the way his dogs/victims did. Also, he should have to report to, or stay at, Dog Town for this last two months (definitely not enough time for the crime) and help rehabilitate dogs. Maybe he will get just the smallest hint on what he did. And I agree that treating animals in this way is just a short step to treating humans that way. Personally, I could care less if he ever plays football again....or if he does, one-half of his salary goes to Dog Town and like places....because I will never, ever watch any game he plays in, even if my favorite team is playing against him. Oh...Pete Rose belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame!

[andie52]

Imprisoned NFL star Michael Vick will be allowed to serve the last two months of his sentence under home confinement because there is no room at a halfway house for him, a government official told the Associated Press Thursday.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2009-02-26-vick-update_N.htm

No room or not fancy enough for him? He should have to live the way his dogs/victims did.


Saving the Michael Vick Dogs

In April 2007, the nation was shocked when dozens of traumatized pit bulls were discovered on Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vicks property. Follow the journey of four of the most challenging Vick dogs as DogTown helps rehabilitate them.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/dogtown/3684/Overview

[YCantWeAllGetAlong]

It is no surprise to me whatsoever that I read an article about this piece of scum maybe getting to play professional sports again. Add another check mark to why I won't ever watch this sport. Drug using, crime ridden, gut toting slime permeates the game. It's a shame; one of the conditions of his parole should have been a football ban for LIFE. What was it that we banned Pete Rose for, FOR LIFE? Give me a break. That sport is all about money.

This man did not serve adequate time for what he did. Animal cruelty is one of many signs of a serious mental disorder that can lead to other heinous crimes. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this creep did harm to people next or some other vicious act. Horrible, horrible man.

[CMancos]

I think he is going to hell if he doesnt change his way, what do you think? No, it is not a retorical question. I dont care what football team he plays on, I wont be one of his fans.

[cmc1227]

The Raiders have Russell, why would they want Vick? Unless they are going to put him at another position, I just don't see the need for another QB in Oakland. Then again, Al Davis always seems to pull off some of the most bizarre things in the NFL

[dwilson59]

Did you see the bait dogs on the news clip? How is it consider making two beagles obese less of a cruel action. Saving them, they are so heavy, killing with kindness. Very sad story all the way around. I am happy Vick paid his due and willing to help fight dog fighting.
Posted by inthenameofdogs at 3:59 PM : May 21, 2009

Are you also saying the Raiders

[inthenameofdogs]

Did you see the bait dogs on the news clip? How is it consider making two beagles obese less of a cruel action. Saving them, they are so heavy, killing with kindness. Very sad story all the way around. I am happy Vick paid his due and willing to help fight dog fighting.

[dwilson59]

I say he is going to the Raiders what do you think?