Tyson To Remain In Prison
Mike Tyson won't be able to get out of jail until at least early June.
A judge on Friday praised the "remarkable" progress made by the former heavyweight champion, but rejected his request for a reduced sentence.
"Mr. Tyson deserves no special treatment," Montgomery County District Court Judge Stephen Johnson said in denying the motion that would have cut the boxer's one-year term to eight months.
He must still serve 60 days in Maryland for violating probation for a 1992 rape conviction in Indiana.
Tyson, who had waived his right to attend the hearing, was brought to the courthouse before the proceedings began. But sheriff's deputies realized their error and immediately took him back. His wife, Monica, was present when the judge announced his decision.
Tyson is undergoing counseling, had a change in his antidepressant medication and is studying for a high school equivalency diploma in the Montgomery County jail.
"We went in with a great deal of hope today that the proper foundation had been laid and the judge was amenable to that but that's not how it turned out," said Michael Steele, Tyson's brother-in-law.
"The public humiliation of Mike Tyson continues," added Steele, alleging that Tyson was brought to the courthouse for the benefit of the press.
"We are looking into it," said Eric Seleznow, spokesman for the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, acknowledging that Tyson should not have been taken from the jail.
Authorities are "painstakingly going out of their way to assure that he is being treated fairly," said Douglas Gansler, Montgomery County state's attorney.
Tyson pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges following a minor traffic accident in suburban Gaithersburg in August. He won a comeback bout against Francois Botha on Jan. 16 and was sentenced Feb. 5.
Last month Tyson spent five days in solitary confinement after throwing a TV set in a jail recreation room. Several days before the outburst Tyson had not received the antidepressant he had been taking for several months.
The judge said Tyson is developing a relationship with a corrections department therapist and mentoring other troubled inmates.
"Mr. Tyson has made a remarkable amount of progress in the last several weeks," said Johnson, noting Tyson has taken responsibility and expressed remorse.
"I cannot control my environment, but I can and will control myself in my environment," Tyson said in a statement to the court Friday.
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