Lawyer: Vick could go to halfway house 'any day'

NEWPORT NEWS, Virignia (AP) -- A lawyer for Michael Vick told a federal bankruptcy judge on Friday that the imprisoned NFL star could be transferred to a halfway house in Virginia any day.
Judge Frank Santoro, presiding over Vick's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, asked about the transfer during a hearing at which he also approved procedures to sell some of the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback's property.
But the U.S. Bureau of Prisons has not given Vick's attorneys a specific date for the move, which attorney Paul Campsen said could occur with only "a day or so" notice.
Vick is serving a 23-month sentence at a federal penitentiary for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy. He is scheduled for release on July 20 but could serve the last few months of his term at a halfway house in Newport News, his hometown.
"We believe he is ultimately going to be reinstated by the NFL," said another Vick bankruptcy attorney, Michael Blumenthal.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has not said whether he will lift Vick's suspension after his release. Vick once was the league's highest-paid player before his indictment and guilty plea left both his finances and his reputation in tatters. He filed for bankruptcy protection in July, claiming assets of $16 million and liabilities of $20.4 million.
Papers filed in his bankruptcy case show exceptionally poor management of Vick's fortune, including lavish and often unexplained spending and an array of questionable investments. The case has been complicated by poor record keeping and Vick's sketchy knowledge of where his money was going.
Santoro said Vick's finances could be "charitably described as in freefall" when he filed his bankruptcy petition.
The judge said he found no fault with Vick's lawyers' efforts to sort out a complex mess but still found the financial disclosure statement difficult to comprehend. He gave the lawyers until Feb. 11 to draft a simplified version, including a chart to help creditors understand how Vick's assets will be handled, and set another hearing for Feb. 27.
Santoro approved the hiring of brokers to sell five boats and four cars owned by Vick.
The judge also approved Vick's plan to sell his suburban Atlanta home at auction. Blumenthal said the eight-bedroom home in a gated lake community has been shown to about 30 potential buyers, and a deal to sell the home for $3.15 million fell through at the last minute.
Now the plan is to start the bidding at $3.2 million. No date has been set for the auction.