Vick gets probation...

Michael Vick pleas guilty.

SUSSEX, Va. -- Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty Tuesday to a state dogfighting charge, a necessary step to make him eligible for early release from prison and potentially speed a return to the NFL.

Vick, 28, pleaded guilty to one charge and not guilty to a second count that was then dropped. The former Atlanta Falcons star was given a three-year suspended sentence.

"I want to apologize to the court, my family, and to all the kids who looked up to me as a role model," Vick told the judge.

Vick already is serving a 23-month sentence in Leavenworth, Kan. for a federal dogfighting conviction. He's scheduled for release on July 20, 2009, and will serve three years' probation.

Vick was convicted of the federal charges in August 2007 when he admitted bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in eastern Virginia's rural Surry County, southeast of Richmond. He also admitted to participating in the killing of several underperforming dogs.

It's not enough to those puppies.