One of the top college football players of all time was sentenced to 23 months in prison and 3 years for probation for being the ringleader of a pit bull dog fighting operation. Michael Vick, who led Virginia Tech to the 1999 BCS title game against Florida State, funded an operation called Bad Newz Kennels and admitted he helped kill six to eight dogs.
Vick turned himself in to authorities on November 19 to began voluntarily serving time early. His scheduled release date would be around October 19, 2009.
Vick has put up nearly a million dollars to help care for 54 pit bulls seized from his 15-acre property in Surry County, Virginia and attempt to place them in healthy environments.
Vick entered the NFL draft early and was the No. 1 pick over-all by the Atlanta Falcons in April of 2001.