A real estate developer who had purchased Michael Vick’s former dog fighting headquarters in Virginia with plans to flip it for a quick profit experienced a rude awakening on December 15 when the property failed to sell at auction.
"I didn’t see the people in the crowd I thought we needed," said owner Wilbur Ray Todd Jr. who felt the 15-acre country estate in rural southeastern Virginia was worth at least $1 million, even without the "celebrity factor," reports the Associated Press.
He turned down the only serious bid of $747,000, which is the property’s assessed value for real estate tax purposes. Todd said he now plans to list the house at 1915 Moonlight Road for a more conventional sale.
Todd said he spent about $50,000 fixing up the place, which had been trashed by burglars and looters. People arriving for the auction noticed the most recent addition: a front-yard flag pole with a waving Atlanta Falcons flag.
"It was the finishing touch," Todd said.
Vick purchased the land for $34,000 in 2002 and built a house on the property in 2003. The grounds also house a full-size basketball court, four outbuildings and dozens of dog cages, where Vick operated his illegal dog fighting enterprise. The quarterback was sentenced to 23 months in prison last week for financing the underground operation.
The house also has two master suites and a media room with wet bar. A double-sided gas fireplace separates the bathroom from the bedroom in the upstairs master suite.
Other amenities include jetted tubs, freshly refinished hardwood floors, a two-car garage and an expansive kitchen with center island, granite countertops and built-in stainless steel appliances.
About 70 people showed up for the Saturday, December 15 auction, but only six registered as possible bidders. Todd said he didn’t think potential bidders were deterred by the property’s infamous history. More likely, he said, they didn’t want the attention they would get at a public auction on such a high-profile property.
In other Vick news, his co-defendant Tony Taylor was sentenced to two months in prison Friday for killing dogs and helping to create Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels. Federal prosecutors were hoping that Taylor would avoid serving any time due to his full cooperation when the case against Vick was in its early stages.
But U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson said it wouldn’t be fair to let Taylor walk after sentencing Vick to 23 months in prison and two other co-defendants to 18 and 21 months.
"You were as much an abuser of animals as any other defendant in this case," Hudson told Taylor on Friday before sentencing him to two months in prison. Prosecutor Michael Gill had recommended Taylor only serve probation.
This article was reprinted with permission. www.eurweb.com
