Former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson indicted on drug charges

PHOENIX (AP) _ Former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson has been indicted on charges of drug possession and driving under the influence of drugs. <br/><br/>The 40-year-old was indicted Friday on felony drug

Friday, January 12th 2007, 5:32 pm

By: News On 6

PHOENIX (AP) _ Former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson has been indicted on charges of drug possession and driving under the influence of drugs.

The 40-year-old was indicted Friday on felony drug possession and paraphernalia possession counts and two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of drugs. If convicted of all four charges, he could be sentenced to up to 7 1/2 years in prison, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said.

The charges stem from Tyson's Dec. 29 arrest in Scottsdale. Tyson was pulled over after leaving a nightclub, and an officer found bags of cocaine in his back pocket and another in a package of cigarettes in his car, according to court records.

Tyson's criminal attorney, Thomas Marlowe, didn't immediately return phone calls Friday.

Thomas said he would pursue prison time for Tyson, who was convicted of rape in Indiana in 1992 and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges in Maryland in 1999.

``Tyson endangered the public and himself and must be held accountable for his actions,'' Thomas said. ``It's my hope that a conviction and prison time will help him to break his addictions and learn to comply with the law.''

Tyson, who recently got back in the ring for a series of four-round exhibitions, became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at 20 in 1986, when he knocked out Trevor Berbick. Four years later, 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.