Mike Tyson went to prison for a 1992 rape conviction in Indiana, serving about three years of a six-year sentence. He was also jailed twice more on shorter terms: roughly three and a half months in Maryland for a 1998 road rage assault, and a single day in Arizona on a 2007 felony cocaine possession and misdemeanor DUI plea.
The 1992 Rape Conviction
This is the case most people mean when they ask about Tyson and prison. On February 10, 1992, a Marion County, Indiana jury found him guilty of one count of rape under Indiana Code 35-42-4-1 and two counts of criminal deviate conduct under Indiana Code 35-42-4-2.1Justia. Tyson v. Trigg The victim was 18-year-old Miss Black America contestant Desiree Washington, assaulted in the early morning hours of July 19, 1991, at the Canterbury Hotel in Indianapolis.
Marion Superior Court Judge Patricia Gifford sentenced Tyson to six years and refused to let him remain free on bail during his appeal. The Indiana Court of Appeals denied his bail petition without a written opinion.2Justia. Tyson v. State
Tyson served his time at the Indiana Youth Center in Plainfield, a medium-security facility where inmates could earn a high school diploma and work for modest wages. He was released in March 1995 after about three years, with the early release reflecting standard good-behavior credit rather than any reversal of the verdict.
The 1999 Maryland Assault
Tyson’s second time behind bars came out of a road rage incident. On August 31, 1998, a minor chain-reaction crash in Gaithersburg, Maryland escalated when Tyson punched one motorist in the face and kicked another in the groin. A judge later described the acts as the “hands and feet of a professional fighter” used against “two innocent people.”
On December 1, 1998, Tyson pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of second-degree assault. Montgomery County District Court Judge Stephen P. Johnson gave him two concurrent two-year sentences, suspended all but one year, and sent him to the Montgomery County jail in Rockville. He was paroled in May 1999 after serving 108 days.
The 2007 Arizona Drug and DUI Case
Tyson’s final jailing grew out of a 2006 traffic stop in Scottsdale, Arizona, after he left a nightclub. Officers found cocaine in his vehicle. In September 2007 he pleaded guilty to one felony count of cocaine possession and a misdemeanor DUI.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Helene Abrams sentenced him on November 19, 2007 to three years of probation on the cocaine charge, one day in jail on the DUI, 360 hours of community service, drug testing, and a fine. The judge credited Tyson for entering rehabilitation on his own before sentencing. He technically faced more than four years; the single day reflected both the plea deal and his treatment efforts.
Consequences That Outlasted the Sentences
The prison time ended decades ago. Two consequences of the rape conviction did not.
Tyson is required to register as a sex offender wherever he lives, and he has been registered in Indiana, Nevada, and Florida over the years. As of 2026 he appears on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Sexual Offender and Predator System with a status of “Released – Subject to Registration,” listing the qualifying offense as a 1992 rape conviction out of Marion County, Indiana.3Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Sexual Offender and Predator Flyer Registration is an ongoing obligation, not a one-time filing, and requires him to keep his address and personal information updated.
The same conviction has blocked him from entering several countries. In December 2013 the United Kingdom refused him entry, citing the 1992 conviction and the fact that his sentence exceeded four years, a threshold that triggers mandatory denial under UK immigration rules regardless of how long ago the offense occurred. Australia denied him entry in 2001 after the federal cabinet found he failed the “character test” under the Migration Act, though that ban was later relaxed and he visited the country in 2012 on a granted visa.