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By WELTON W. HARRIS II
The Indianapolis News
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Former heavyweight boxing
champion
Mike Tyson was sentenced today to six
years in prison for raping a beauty pag-
eant contestant last July in Indianapolis.
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Marion County Superior Court
Judge
Patricia Gifford gave Tyson 10-year sen-
tences on each of his three convictions
- one rape conviction and two convic-
tions of criminal sexual deviate conduct.
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She suspended four years on each
count and ordered the sentences to run
concurrently.
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She fined him $10,000 on each
con-
viction and ordered him to serve four
years' probation after his release. She
said his probation conditions are psy-
chotherapy, which he must pay for, and
100 hours a year of community-based
programs for youths during his proba-
tion.
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Tyson's lawyers immediately asked
the judge for an appeal bond for the
boxer, which the judge denied.
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Earlier, a contrite Tyson told
Gifford
he is "slightly afraid" and he feels as if
he's been "in a dream that is not real"
since he was convicted of rape Feb. 10
by an Indianapolis jury.
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Marion County Prosecutor Jeffery
Modisett asked the judge to sentence
Tyson to 8 to 10 years, with maximum
fines of $30,000.
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Modisett also had said he would
seek
$150,000 from Tyson to cover the cost
of prosecution.
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Speaking at a courtroom podium,
the
25-year-old former heavyweight boxing
champion denied he raped Desiree
Washington, the Rhode Island candidate
in the Miss Black American contest, in
his hotel room July 19.
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"I'm not guilty of the crime,"
Tyson
said.
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"The situation, what occurred,
there
was no harmful meaning. I didn't hurt
anybody - no black eyes, no broken
ribs. I didn't rape anyone. I didn't at-
tempt to rape anyone. I'm sorry, I agree
I've done something, but I didn't mean
to."
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About what happened in his
room at the Canterbury Hotel,
Tyson said, "I had no control
over it. It just happened."
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He said he was sorry Wash-
ington was not in court today
"so I could apologize."
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Tyson told the judge, "I am
prepared to expect the worst. I
don't know if I can deal with it.
I'm slightly afraid."
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He added: "I'm here to deal
with it. I'm crass. I agree with
that. The things that were said
by the prosecutors were very
hurtful. I was hurt. I have been
crucified, humiliated worldwide.
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The boxer said he "gets
blamed for horrible things. To be
in a situation like this is totally,
totally unbelievable, like being in
a dream that is not real. I will
survive, I will survive."
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Tyson described himself as
"hurt, personally," but he add-
ed, "I didn't come here today for
mercy, ma'am. I'm prepared for
whatever you have to offer me.
I'm prepared to deal with what-
ever you decide."
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After Tyson addressed the
judge, Lloyd Bridges, director of
the Riverside Community Cor-
rection Corp., 1415 N. Pennsyl-
vania Ave., told the judge he
went to Tyson's home in South-
ington, Ohio, on Saturday to in-
terview him for the work-release
program.
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He said Tyson qualified for
the program, and added that
Riverside has housed two other
rapists.
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Vincent Fuller, Tyson's attor-
ney, asked Gifford to send Tyson
to Riverside instead of sending
him to prison.
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"I'm not asking the court for
leniency, but I am asking for
compassion," Fuller said.
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"This case is a tragedy, but
what I fear most is that the years of
incarceration would do nothing
for Mr. Tyson but put him back
where he came from, and make
him worse."
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Tyson rose from being a
street brawler and juvenile delin-
quent in Brooklyn, N.Y., to be-
come the youngest heavyweight
boxing champion.
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Harvard lawyer Alan
Dershowitz, who was in court
today, is expected to quickly ap-
peal Tyson's conviction to the
Indiana Court of Appeals after
the sentencing. Dershowitz re-
cently lost the appeal of New
York hotel queen Leona Helms-
ley on tax charges.
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A circus-like atmosphere ex-
isted outside the City-County
Building before Tyson entered
the building about 9 a.m. today.
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About 70 Tyson supporters
from Chicago wearing "Free
Mike Tyson" buttons waved
placards defending the boxer
and asking the judge for lenien-
cy.
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"She (the victim) should have
known better. What was she do-
ing in that man's room?" asked
Sylvia Shettlesworth, Chicago.
James Hoskins, an unemployed,
19-year-old amateur boxer,
clutched a blown-up color photo
taken at Black Expo when Tyson
had his arm around Hoskins.
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"Cost me $20 bucks to have it
blown up," Hoskins said.
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He said he bought the $700
Cleveland Browns warm-up suit
he wore today "in honor of
Mike." Tyson lives outside of
Cleveland.
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Hoskins called the trial and
sentencing "silly. It was just sil-
ly."
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On the sidewalk outside the
City-County Building, the Rev.
William F. Crockett, Cleveland-
based secretary for the National
Committee for Mercy for Mike
Tyson, said "I know Mike Ty-
son. We've worked around the
country helping the jobless, the
hungry, the homeless. That's the
kind of activities Mike is in-
volved in most of the time."
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S.R. Shields, chairman of the
local petition drive asking for
leniency for Tyson, said he had
given the judge petitions with
30,000 signatures.
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"This is a cause that will go
on," Shields vowed.
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Crockett added, "This is a
cause we believe in. When truth
is crushed, it will rise again. We
have to have faith in the crimi-
nal justice system."
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Reporter Jeff Zogg
contribut-
ed to this story.
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