Michael Vick and associates Purnell A. Peace, Quanis L. Phillips and Tony Taylor have been indicted on two felony charges in an alleged dog fighting ring that was run out of a house Michael Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, owns in Virginia.

According to United Press International reports, Vick and his associates have been indicted for sponsoring a dog in an animal fighting venture and for conspiracy as part of another felony in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Richmond, Virginia. Federal prosecutors recently detailed in U.S. District Court documents the stringent rules used at the alleged dog fighting ring on property owned by Vick in Surry County, Virginia., The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday."

It was a disturbing scene when investigators discovered 66 dogs, 55 being pit bulls, at Mike Vick's home on April 26th, including equipment used for dog-fighting. According to reports, Michael Vick actually had a station for rape-breeding, in which a piece of equipment referred to as a 'rape stand' was used to hold dogs in place for forced mating.

In the indictment, federal investigators describe what happened to some Bad Newz Kennels dogs that either lost matches or did not perform well in test fights.  After a March 2003 loss by a female pit bull, codefendant Purnell Peace, "after consulting with Vick," electrocuted the animal. In April, prosecutors allege, Vick, Peace, and Quanis Phillips, "executed approximately 8 dogs that did not perform well in 'testing' sessions." These animals, the indictment claims, were killed "by various methods, including hanging, drowning, and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground."

Vick could face up to six years in prison in convicted.

Click here to view the Indictment in its entirety.

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