CATSKILL - Boxing trainer Kevin Rooney, a former mentor to heavyweight champ Mike Tyson, was sentenced on Tuesday to five years of probation and fined $2,295 in connection with an April 2006 arrest for felony drunken driving.
In handing down the sentence, Greene County Judge Daniel K. Lalor said he took into account that Rooney is undergoing residential treatment for alcohol abuse.
"You're going to be sentenced to a life of sobriety, and if you don't do that, then you're going to end up spending the rest of your life - maybe six months, maybe a year, maybe a year-and-a-half, maybe two years at a time - in jails or prisons because people are going to put an end to the danger and the nuisance that you cause when you're a drunk," Lalor said.
After his court appearance on Tuesday, Rooney said the residential treatment program at Hospitality House in Albany could take a year to complete. He also said it was important for Lalor to consider public safety when ordering probation.
"He's looking at the whole picture, and I understand what he's saying," Rooney said.
"I may be the oldest guy in (the program), and it's hard," he said. "It's not a joke, but I can do it. It's just not a walk in park."
More quotes available in the extended section of this post (click 'Read More' below).