Michael Ventre

As surprises go, it was not much of one.

The reaction in some quarters to the Michael Vick sentence handed down on Monday was one of mild disbelief. The word “stunning” was even uttered, more than once, on a certain cable network.

But 23 months is not a shock. Upon further examination of all the variables, it was appropriate. It makes sense. It is justice.

Michael Vick got what he deserved.

Animal rights activists might argue that he deserves a lot more, and I can’t really argue with them. But their stance is strident because they’re passionate about the treatment of animals and irate over Vick’s actions even now, months after they were fully disclosed.

Vick’s fans, the ones who don his jersey, chant his name and ignore his cruelty, will exclaim that he is being persecuted. But they have no case. They have never had a case.

In the big picture, Vick’s football career is essentially over and he’ll be spending the next 22 months (he should have one month’s credit for time already served) behind bars in a federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson did not look at Vick, see a wondrous football player with magical talents, and ease up on his gavel. He saw a young man who committed some dastardly acts and handled the aftermath of their discovery with extremely poor judgment and even arrogance.

The judge could have demanded 33 or 43 months in jail, but then he would have called the entire process into question. He would have invited charges that he was looking to buff his image as a no-nonsense judge and polish his credentials for future judicial posts. He would have inflamed those who believe this is all an issue of race, and Vick is just the latest fall guy.

Instead, the judge did what he was supposed to do. He acted wisely. He slapped Vick with a sentence that exceeded the prosecutors’ recommendations of somewhere on the low end of 12 to 18 months. He nailed Vick more harshly than he did Vick’s co-defendants, Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips, who received sentences recently of 18 and 21 months, respectively, because Vick was considered the ringleader and the source of the financial backing for the so-called Bad Newz Kennels and the entire dogfighting operation. 

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And he did so for other reasons, too.

He’ll be locked in a small cell for almost the next two years because the images still cause anguish. Vick presided over an operation that set one pit bull against another, so they could tear each other apart for the amusement of men with money to gamble.

Vick will be incarcerated because he was the kingpin in a criminal enterprise that crossed state lines.

Vick will be denied his freedom because he mistreated dogs beyond the fighting, by denying food to some so they’d be more ornery in the ring.

Slide show Michael Vick's case in cartoons Top cartoonists around the nation weigh in on the Vick situation. msnbc.com

Vick will be kept away from family, friends and other loved ones because he and his co-defendants killed dogs that didn’t perform to their standards. They did so by electrocution, hanging and drowning. Because of the grotesque nature of his actions, Vick will be placed in an ugly environment.

But that’s not all.

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