Tyson pleads guilty to charges of drug possession and DUI

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson pleaded guilty Monday in Mesa, Ariz., to charges of drug possession and driving under the influence stemming from a traffic stop last year as he was leaving a nightclub.

Tyson quietly acknowledged to a judge that he had cocaine and was impaired when he was stopped for driving erratically in Scottsdale on Dec. 29.

He pleaded guilty to one felony count of cocaine possession and a misdemeanor DUI count and faces up to four years and three months in prison when sentenced Nov. 19.

A felony charge of possession of drug paraphernalia and a second misdemeanor DUI charge were dropped.

Tyson’s lawyer, David Chesnoff, said his client has been clean and sober for eight months.

“It’s obvious this was a crime he was committing against himself,” Chesnoff said.

The prosecutor in the county where Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has admitted to bankrolling a dogfighting operation plans to present “a host of bills of indictment” regarding the case to a grand jury today at Richmond, Va.

Vick and three co-defendants have already pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the case, and all are awaiting sentencing in federal court before the end of the year.

The local charges, and a conviction, could spell an end to any hope he has of resuming his NFL career after serving a likely federal prison term.

An animal cruelty charge in Virginia is punishable by up to five years in prison, and Vick admitted in his written plea to helping kill six to eight pit bulls days before the first raid.

That alone could expose Vick to as much as 40 years in prison.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Dwight Sean Jones, a former pro football player who manages investments for athletes, with violating securities laws by refusing to allow SEC examiners to inspect his business records.

Jones was an NFL defensive end who played for the Los Angeles Raiders, the Houston Oilers and the Green Bay Packers in the 1980s and 1990s.

TENNIS

Third-seeded Sugiyama upset in first round

Third-seeded Ai Sugiyama lost in the first round of the Korea Open at Seoul to 17-year-old Ayumi Morita, 7-5, 6-3.

Two other seeded players from Japan were eliminated on the outdoor hardcourts -- No. 7 Aiko Nakamura and No. 8 Akiko Morigami.

Seventh-seeded Shahar Peer defeated Lucie Safarova, 6-3, 6-3, in the first round of the Fortis Championships at Luxembourg.

Top-seeded Richard Gasquet dropped only nine points on his serve in a 6-1, 6-2 win over Kristof Vliegen at the Mumbai Open at Mumbai, India.

PRO BASKETBALL

Seattle files suit to keep SuperSonics in town

Seattle officials filed a lawsuit to keep the SuperSonics from leaving town, saying the team’s profitability in much-maligned KeyArena “has less to do with KeyArena than perhaps the SuperSonics’ ability to defend the high pick-and-roll.”

The lawsuit was filed in King County Superior Court only a few days after new SuperSonics Chairman Clay Bennett issued a demand for arbitration, seeking to buy out the remainder of the team’s lease unless an agreement on a new arena is reached by the end of next month. The complaint asks that a judge force the SuperSonics to stay through the end of the lease, in 2010.

The Golden State Warriors signed guard Troy Hudson. . . . Washington Wizards guard Roger Mason agreed to a one-year deal with the team.

HORSE RACING

Pedroza wins his 10th Fairplex riding title

Martin Pedroza rode two winners on closing day to wrap up his ninth consecutive riding title at the Fairplex Park meet and his 10th overall. Pedroza finished the meet with 35 wins. Runner-up Tyler Baze finished with 31. Doug O’Neill, who saddled 54 horses during the 16-day meet, won 12 to claim his fourth consecutive training title. Jeff Mullins finished second with 10 winners.

-- Larry Stewart