U.S. & World

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) ― Amid boos from spectators, NFL star Michael Vick arrived at a federal courthouse Thursday to answer accusations that he was involved in a brutal dogfighting operation.

The Atlanta Falcons quarterback was to appear at a bond hearing and enter a plea on dogfighting conspiracy charges. He said nothing as he walked into the courthouse, which was lined by spectators who began gathering at dawn.

Vick arrived at 3 p.m. in a black sport utility vehicle and was booed by a crowd of hundreds.

Wearing a dark suit and blue shirt, Vick looked straight ahead as he walked up the ramp to the courthouse.

Vick is accused with three others of conspiracy involving competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting, and conducting the enterprise across state lines. Federal prosecutors allege the operation -- known as Bad Newz Kennels -- operated on Vick's property in Surry County.

The allegations detailed in a graphic, 18-page indictment sparked protests by animal rights groups at the headquarters of the NFL and the Falcons, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has barred Vick from training camp while the league investigates.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank said the team wanted to suspend Vick for four games, the maximum penalty a team can assess a player, but the NFL asked the Falcons to wait. Instead, Blank has told Vick to focus on his legal problems, not football.

Thursday, the Falcons opened their first camp under coach Bobby Petrino.

The case began April 25 when investigators conducting a drug search at the property found 66 dogs, including 55 pit bulls, and equipment typically used in dogfighting. They included a "rape stand" that holds aggressive dogs in place for mating and a "breakstick" used to pry open a dog's mouth.

Vick contended he knew nothing about a dogfighting operation at the home, where one of his cousins lived, and said he rarely visited. He has since declined comment, citing his attorney's advice.

Attorney Lawrence Woodward of Virginia Beach, who has also represented Allen Iverson and Vick's younger brother, Marcus, has not returned several phone messages.

Animal rights organizations have seized on the case as an opportunity to raise awareness of the largely underground and always gruesome world of dogfighting, where two dogs are trained to fight to the death -- sometimes for hours -- until the end.

Early Thursday, activists, Vick fans and the media gathered outside the federal courthouse. Some members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals dressed in dog costumes and carried signs, including one with the image of a battered pit bull and the words "Dogfighting Victim." Some people brought their dogs.

According to the indictment filed July 17, dogs not killed in the fighting pit often were shot, hanged, drowned or, in one case, slammed to the ground. The document alleges that Vick was consulted before one losing dog was wet down and electrocuted.

It alleges that the dogfighting operation began in 2001, not long after Vick parlayed a dazzling two-year run as the quarterback at Virginia Tech into being the first overall selection in the NFL draft. His first contract was for $62 million.

In 2004, he signed a 10-year, $130 million deal, then the richest in league history.

The indictment alleges the fights offered purses as high as $26,000, and that Vick once paid $23,000 to the owner of two pit bulls that had beaten Bad Newz Kennels dogs.

That owner is one of four cooperating witnesses cited in the document.

Charged along with Vick are Purnell A. Peace, 35, of Virginia Beach; Quanis L. Phillips, 28, of Atlanta; and Tony Taylor, 34, of Hampton. They all face up to six years in prison, $350,000 in fines and restitution if convicted of both charges.

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