posted on Apr, 25 2004 @ 05:36 PM
CATSKILL, N.Y. (AP) -- A former trainer of heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson will spend nine months in jail in upstate New York for violating probation and
disorderly conduct.
Kevin Rooney, 47, of Catskill, was charged with violating his probation after officers found him "drunk as a skunk a couple of times," Greene County
Sheriff Dick Hussey said. He was sent to county jail April 8.
Rooney was on probation for a drunken driving conviction in Albany County and a disorderly conduct conviction in the village of Catskill, 30 miles
south of Albany. Under the terms of his probation, Rooney was ordered to attend counseling and stop drinking alcohol, Hussey said.
Authorities also charged Rooney with disorderly conduct after he publicly urinated on Main Street in Catskill Feb. 19.
Rooney, the state Golden Gloves champion in 1975, became Tyson's trainer in 1982. He gained national attention for helping Tyson win the World Boxing
Council heavyweight championship in 1986.
Two years later, Rooney filed a lawsuit claiming Tyson broke a verbal contract to retain him as trainer throughout his professional boxing career.
Rooney won a $4.4 million jury award in 1996.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.