Michael Vick has a court hearing next week that may clear the way for the suspended National Football League quarterback to enter a plea on Virginia state dog-fighting charges.
Surry County Circuit Court administrator Sally Neblett said in a telephone interview that an Oct. 30 hearing will determine if Vick can enter a plea by video conference.
The Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported that Vick's lawyers filed papers asking the court to let Vick plead guilty from federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he is serving a two-year sentence on federal charges related to dog fighting.
The papers say that Vick must resolve the state charges before he becomes eligible for admission into a halfway house, the Virginian-Pilot said. Vick is scheduled for release July 20 and could enter such a program six months before that date.
Vick, a three-time Pro Bowl selection as quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, was sentenced in December 2007 to 23 months in federal prison for conspiring to run a dog-fighting operation at a house he owned in Surry County.
In September 2007, a grand jury indicted Vick on separate state charges. The NFL suspended him indefinitely after his guilty plea, with Commissioner Roger Goodell calling Vick's actions ``cruel and reprehensible.''
Falcons owner Arthur Blank said last week that he may support Vick's reinstatement to the NFL after Vick leaves prison, though the quarterback wouldn't play for his former team.
