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Vick to work with Humane Society

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  • Ex-NFL quarterback finishing sentence on charges related to dogfighting
  • Vick will work with youths in anti-dogfighting programs
  • Vick's future with NFL undecided; lawyer says he has job with construction firm
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(CNN) -- Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, serving a prison sentence on charges related to dogfighting, will work with the Humane Society of the United States on anti-dogfighting campaigns after his release, Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle said Tuesday.

Michael Vick, 28, is serving a 23-month sentence. He is expected to be released in May.

Michael Vick, 28, is serving a 23-month sentence. He is expected to be released in May.

Vick will work on programs aimed at preventing youths from getting involved in dogfighting, and also on programs aimed at assisting youths who have been involved.

Vick, 28, is serving a 23-month sentence in a Leavenworth, Kansas, prison after pleading guilty in August 2007 to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in Virginia. His sentence ends in July, but he is expected to be released sometime in May and serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement, most likely in Virginia. He is a native of Newport News.

Pacelle said the Humane Society was approached by Vick's representatives. He said he has traveled to Kansas twice to meet with Vick, and during the second visit, the two discussed how Vick could use his sway over youths to discourage them from involvement in dogfighting, as well as help those who were apprehended in connection with it.

Details have not yet been decided, Pacelle said, but will be in the next couple of days.

Last month, a federal bankruptcy judge denied a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan presented by Vick, urging him to offer the court another plan to emerge from bankruptcy. The plan called for Vick to come up with $750,000 to $1 million in cash to be paid to creditors, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro said, but added he saw no evidence Vick could come up with that much. Santoro suggested Vick's next plan not call for him to keep two houses and three cars, as did the rejected proposal.

In testimony, Vick acknowledged committing a "heinous" act and said he should have acted more maturely. He said he has been earning 12 cents an hour as an overnight janitor in prison. His Falcons salary, he said, was between $10 million and $12 million. He acknowledged failing to handle his money well.

Vick's attorneys have said he will work at a Newport News construction firm after his release. But the sports agent who negotiated Vick's 10-year, $140 million contract with the Falcons testified that Vick will return to the game as soon as September if reinstated by the NFL. Meanwhile, he has also agreed to participate in a documentary for $600,000.

More attention has been paid to dogfighting as a result of Vick's case, Pacelle said. The Humane Society, which offers rewards for tips involving dogfighting, has recently paid out $40,000 in five different cases, he said.

CNN's Mary Lynn Ryan contributed to this report.

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