A Tale of Two Convictions (Black and Vick)
‘Twas quite a day yesterday for Justice:
1) Conrad Black:
Conrad Black was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison on Monday.
Judge Amy St. Eve had said she was considering a sentence of between 78 and 97 months for the media mogul. She ultimately decided on a 78 month sentence and a $125,000 (U.S.) fine.
He must also forfeit $6.1-million with no right to restitution.
“You have committed a serious offence, a very serious offence,” Judge St. Eve told Lord Black.
Alas, less than the 20+ years (and $32 million) sought by prosecutors, but still a significant and justifiable sentence. For more on his guilty conviction, see my previous post here. For more on Black — he ought to be stripped of his lordship as eagerly as he renounced his Canadian citizenship (not that we want him back) — see here.
Some additional details: As a non-American, Black is not eligible for a minimum-security prison and so will likely be sent to a low-security facility. Moreover: “Foreigners are also prohibited from some prison programs and they are not eligible for release to a half-way house during the final six months of their sentence. Typically, inmates must serve 85 per cent of their term before they are eligible for parole. At the end of their sentences, Lord Black and the others will likely be sent to an immigration detention centre to await deportation.”
Good riddance. To both Black and his loathsome wife, Barbara Amiel. May you both be deported to oblivion.
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2) Michael Vick:
Michael Vick was sentenced to prison Monday for running a dogfighting operation and will stay there longer than two co-defendants, up to 23 months, because he lied about his involvement when he was supposed to be coming clean to the judge who would decide his fate.
The disgraced NFL star received a harsher sentence than the others in the federal conspiracy case because of “less than truthful” statements about killing pit bulls.
Vick said he accepted responsibility for his actions, but U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson said he wasn’t so sure.
“I’m not convinced you’ve fully accepted responsibility,” Hudson told Vick, who arrived in court wearing the black-and-white striped prison uniform he was issued when he voluntarily surrendered Nov. 19 to begin serving his sentence early.
I’ve posted previously on Vick here and here. There isn’t much more to say, except this:
Vick’s former team, the Atlanta Falcons, played (and got trounced by) the New Orleans Saints last night on Monday Night Football. The game was played in Atlanta. The camera picked up numerous people in the stands wearing Vick jerseys and holding pro-Vick signs. Some of his former teammates sported his number (7) on their uniforms — presumably in a show of friendship and support? — and at least one player had it on the black anti-reflection strips under his eyes. At one point, the owner of the Falcons, Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank, joined the ESPN announcers in the booth. He was asked about the Vick situation and, to be fair, said the right things — for the most part (e.g., redemption, second chances, etc.). And yet he minimized Vick’s crimes by stating repeatedly that Vick had simply made some poor choices.
Poor choices?
This is a callous and egotistical young man who tortured and executed dogs for his own (and his friends’) amusement. That’s what this is all about. It’s not a story about how a good kid turned bad or fell in the wrong crowd or was lured into temptation or whatever. Rather, it’s a story about premeditated animal abuse and the rich celebrity-athlete who not only enabled the abuse but committed much of it himself.
This is what Atlanta showed us last night: One of the wealthiest and most powerful men in America downplayed what Vick did — Vick, his former money-maker. Meanwhile, all around him, some of Vick’s former teammates and many Falcons fans expressed what looked like their unconditional love and support for a brutal animal abuser, a criminal who, one suspects, doesn’t quite get how what he did was so bad.
Nice job, Atlanta. Are you always this repellently ugly?
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Both Black and Vick should have been sentenced to longer prison terms — Vick especially.
Nonetheless, these were two high-profile criminal cases that went the right way — and in each case the criminal was subjected duly subjected to public condemnation and sentenced to prison time.
Yes, a very good day for Justice.
(Cross-posted from The Reaction.)
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4 Responses to “A Tale of Two Convictions (Black and Vick)”
I’ve lived in Atlanta. It’s no surprise what you report.
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Conrad Black: If it’s a federal court, he’s going to Club Fed. I grew up next to one of these. I got to tour it as a child and I didn’t understand why the adults were so angry; I thought the place was truly beautiful. The dormitory I lived in for a year much later was truly shabby and Spartan by contrast!
Club Fed in the Bay Area: home of children of the very wealthy (celebrity criminals and others who were drug violators) and some Soviet spies long ago — we’re nice to theirs, they may be nicer to ours.
Club Fed in Texas: “We know who the prisoners are. They’re the ones with the suntans.”
DLS lol, the way you describe it, it sounds like summer camp with a fence.
I may be crucified for this, but may in inquire as to the race of the Animal Abuser fans? Because it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if they were overwhelmingly black. The same sort of thing happened with OJ. Apparently some blacks are so desperate to have examples of others who have “made it” that they will get behind any piece of human garbage, as long as he’s black. Even worse, the standard of “making it” for many black teens is reduced to being a sports star or a rap star. These same people would not vote for Obama for not being “black enough”.
Mind you, I have no doubt that there are legions within the black community that deplore Michael Vick for his actions and for serving as yet another poor example for black teens, as if they needed any more. But the fact remains that the deification of material richness within the black community holds strong, while moral richness, the kind that precludes animal cruelty, the kind that realizes that being a father is more than impregnating a girl, seems to fail.
We used to say, “The fence is to keep others out rather than to keep the ‘residents‘ in.” (They’re not inmates, which is a negative term that demeans them, and they don’t wear uniforms, and the staff — don’t call them “guards” — don’t carry guns. These were facts as of when I had toured the place. Nice carpeting, building interiors, and landscaping with patio, I recall.)
[visiting regulations -- FCI is the main "prison"]
I remember working in a department store and fellow employees got in trouble for refusing to sell clothing to the people who would come from the facility to buy clothing for the residents. Our tax dollars at work.
I forget if there ever were any pregnancies there.
The nature of the place hopefully has changed by now, though at the risk of standard problems such as overcrowding — the individual rooms could well now hold two or three persons each. It was sure nice when I toured it, long ago, and yes, ordinary clothing was being purchased at local stores for the residents. Maybe they wear uniforms now.
I agree with Lynx. Many blacks still think OJ is innocent to this day. In DC many black juries won’t convict a black defendent. Its sad but true.