"Iron" Mike Tyson Pleads Guilty

[Keithlewis]

MESA, Ariz. -- Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson pleaded guilty Monday to charges of drug possession and driving under the influence stemming from a traffic stop last year as he was leaving a nightclub.


The terms of Mike Tyson's plea agreement, entered Monday in an Arizona court, included the dropping of a felony charge of possession of drug paraphernalia and a second misdemeanor DUI charge.

In a hushed voice, Tyson, 41, told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Helene F. Abrams that he was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine when officers stopped him for driving erratically Dec. 29 in Scottsdale.

"I had possession of cocaine, and I drove under the influence," he told the judge, his voice barely audible.

Tyson pleaded guilty to a single felony count of cocaine possession and a misdemeanor DUI count. A felony charge of possession of drug paraphernalia and a second misdemeanor DUI charge were dropped, according to the terms of a plea agreement.

Tyson faces a maximum of four years and three months in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 19.

The former champion walked out of the courtroom flanked by his lawyers and got into a black SUV. He did not stop to answer questions.

Defense lawyer David Chesnoff said Tyson has been clean and sober for eight months and has been talking to community groups about his own drug problems.

"It's obvious this was a crime he was committing against himself," Chesnoff said.

Police stopped Tyson after the boxer had spent the evening at Scottsdale's Pussycat Lounge. An officer said he saw Tyson wiping a white substance off the dashboard of his black BMW, and that his speech was slurred. Authorities found bags of cocaine in Tyson's pocket and in his car.

Tyson told officers later that he used cocaine "whenever I can get my hands on it," and that he preferred to smoke it in Marlboro cigarettes with the tobacco pulled out.

According to a court document, Tyson admitted to being an addict.

Tyson also told police that he used marijuana that day and was taking the antidepressant Zoloft.

Since his arrest, Tyson checked himself into an inpatient treatment program for what his lawyer called "various addictions." Chesnoff had said previously that he'd try to keep the boxer out of prison.

"You never know," Chesnoff said. "If there had been more people interested in his well-being and health along the way, we wouldn't be here now."

County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Tyson should be put in prison, noting that Tyson was convicted of rape in Indiana in 1992 and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges in Maryland in 1999.

"Mike Tyson is a repeat offender with a violent past," Thomas said during a news conference. "I believe only a prison sentence will send the right message and properly protect the public."

In 1986, Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history when, at 20, he knocked out Trevor Berbick. He lost his title four years later when he was knocked out by James "Buster" Douglas. By 1997, Tyson's career hit a low point when he bit Evander Holyfield's ear during a fight.

Tyson recently had been trying to revive his career with a series of four-round boxing exhibitions.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

[NWOWolfpack]

He just can't stay out of trouble.

BIGGEST WASTE OF TALENT EVER!!!