Indiana probation officer George Walker said he
will file court papers by Monday informing Judge
Patricia Gifford of the parole violation.

"We want to go ahead and get this on the record.
We bring it to the court's attention, and then all the
legal stuff kicks in," said Walker, who works in
Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis - where
Tyson was convicted of rape in 1992.

"The judge can do everything from nothing all the
way to imposing the originally suspended
sentence, and anything in between."

Walker said the fistic biter went too far when he
got into a scuffle with two men after a Maryland
fender-bender earlier this year.

Tyson pled no contest in a Maryland courtroom on
Monday on misdemeanor assault charges
stemming from the Aug. 31 traffic accident.

The no-contest plea is not a legal admission of
guilt - but Tyson faces up to 20 years and a $5,000
fine on the assault rap.

The pugilist has already reached an out-of-court
settlement to fend off a civil lawsuit by the two men
who charge he attacked them in a rage after the
accident.

Tyson went to prison in 1992 after he was found
guilty of raping a beauty-pageant contestant in an
Indianapolis hotel room.

He served three years of a 10-year sentence. His
probation expires in March.

The possibility of new jail time comes as Iron Mike
prepares for his first bout since chowing down on
the ears of Evander Holyfield in a championship
bout in Las Vegas last year.

Tyson is scheduled to fight Francois Botha in Las
Vegas on Jan. 16.

Tyson was exiled from boxing for a year after the
shocking double biting incident - and his license to
work mayhem in the ring was reinstated by
Nevada boxing officials only last October.

Tyson has been undergoing psychiatric counseling
to help him control his anger, as one of the
conditions that allowed him to get his boxing
license back.

Tyson's no-contest plea could also lead Nevada
authorities to yank his license again.

Sentencing in the Maryland case is expected to
come early next year - but no date has been set.

In the August incident Iron Mike's wife Monica was
at the wheel of their Mercedes convertible when it
was rear-ended in a three-car collision.

Cops said a furious Tyson got out of the car and
took a swing at one of the other drivers and sent
another one to the ground with a kick to the groin.

Tyson told the judge at his no-contest plea that he
was aware the plea could affect his parole.

Indiana prosecutors said the no-contest plea
leaves the fighter in murky legal waters - since
such a plea is not directly addressed in the state's
parole law.

But they said the legalistic move could still land
him back behind bars.

"Good behavior is always a condition of probation,"
said Steve Johnson, executive director of the
Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council.

"A no-contest plea would not necessarily preclude
a revocation of probation if evidence were brought
to [the judge] that a criminal act had occurred."

Tyson's lawyers could not be reached last night.

-- William Neuman - 12/04/98