Exclusive first look at Mike Tyson on 'Law & Order: SVU'

Mike Tyson is going to face the death penalty -- on "Law & Order: SVU," that is.

The former boxing champ will be the crime drama's latest high-profile guest star in its tense Feb. 6 episode. He plays a death row inmate connected to another case, involving a janitor who brutally attacked an athletic coach. Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) discovers horrifying evidence that the janitor and Tyson's character both may have been victims of the same sexual predator years earlier.

But the clock is ticking down to Tyson's execution; can Benson and defense attorney Bayard Ellis (guest star Andre Braugher) discover the truth before time runs out?

Tyson is no stranger to prison himself -- he served three years behind bars on a rape conviction in 1992.

[Related: Should Mike Tyson be on 'SVU' after rape conviction? Petition says no]

After that, he bowed out of professional boxing and has dabbled in acting, appearing as himself in the "Hangover" movies. He also put on a one-man show on Broadway, "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth" last summer, and was the subject of a 2008 documentary, "Tyson."