Disgraced NBA ref gets 15 months in betting probe

Former National Basketball Association referee Tim Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in prison for betting on games and using inside knowledge of player injuries to recommend wagers by two high-school classmates.

Donaghy, 41, a 13-year veteran of the league, said the two men paid him thousands of dollars for the tips. He pleaded guilty almost a year ago to federal charges of fraud and conspiracy, and faced as much as 25 years in prison. He was given a 15-month sentence for each count, both to run concurrently.

"The defendant deserves to receive a benefit for his cooperation, and there's no dispute that the defendant did provide substantial cooperation" to the government, U.S. District Judge Carol Amon said today in Brooklyn, New York, federal court. Prosecutors recommended a term of 27 to 33 months. Donaghy's lawyer, John Lauro, said his client should get only six months of probation because he assisted the government and because he's addicted to gambling.

The betting scandal is a first for NBA referees. In 1989, two Major League Baseball umpires, Rich Garcia and Frank Pulli, were put on probation for two years for betting on basketball and football games. The NBA has said U.S. officials have concluded that no other officials were involved in the Donaghy scheme.

"I'm very sorry for the acts for which I stand before you, Donaghy told Amon. "I brought shame on myself."

Donaghy's former classmates were sentenced last week. Thomas Martino, 42, received a year and a day in jail after pleading guilty to conspiring to defraud the NBA. James Battista, a professional gambler, was sentenced to a 15-month term. Both men said Donaghy told them which NBA games to bet on.

Martino and Battista, who attended Cardinal O'Hara High School in Springfield, Pennsylvania, with Donaghy, approached him in December 2006. The three agreed that Donaghy would provide picks on games through Martino to Battista, and that the referee would get a kickback.

Lauro argued in court papers that his client was the only one of the three men to cooperate with prosecutors.

"Other individuals involved in this matter who did not cooperate and provide substantial assistance are subject to sentences far less severe than that faced by Tim," the defense lawyer wrote in court papers.

Donaghy also admitted providing information to another friend, Jack Concannon, starting with the 2003-2004 NBA season, and placing bets on 30 to 40 games, Amon wrote in a decision released last week. The judge said this scheme continued through November 2006. Prosecutors have declined to say if Concannon was ever charged with criminal wrongdoing. Concannon wasn't immediately available for comment.

NBA spokeswoman Maureen Coyle didn't immediately return an e-mail seeking comment. Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell, declined to comment on Concannon or whether the investigation was continuing.

Battista's lawyer alleged Donaghy hatched the scheme while Lauro claimed it was Battista who was the "leader of the conspiracy." When sentencing Battista and Martino last week, Amon criticized all three men for compromising the integrity of the sport.

Martino delivered cash payments to Donaghy, usually about $5,000 for each correct pick. Battista earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in the scheme.

Amon ruled last week that Donaghy, Battista and Martino are jointly and individually responsible for paying $217,266 in restitution. Donaghy forfeited $30,000 he made from his crimes in December, the government said.

Regular Season Games

Donaghy officiated 68 regular-season games and five playoff matches during the 2006-2007 season. All 16 of the games Donaghy refereed after giving a pick to Battista and Martino occurred during the regular season, prosecutors said in court papers.

Referees are barred from any sort of gambling except for betting at race tracks during the NBA off-season. They aren't allowed to tell anyone outside of their immediate family their travel schedule or which games they are going to work.

Donaghy, who began working as a full-time referee for the NBA in September 1994 and quit in July 2007, argued he doesn't deserve to be incarcerated like his partners.

Lauro said Donaghy qualifies for probation because he suffers from a "pathological" gambling addition, because of his diminished mental state and because of his "substantial assistance" in the federal probe, according to a letter the defense lawyer filed in June.

Lauro and Donaghy said they'd informed prosecutors about alleged "game manipulation by referees." Lauro said his client also provided information about widespread wrongdoing in the league, including allegations that two officials changed the outcome of a 2002 playoff series and that the NBA asked referees not to call technical fouls on star players.

The league has denied the allegations.

"Donaghy provided information that could have led to other prosecutable cases," Lauro told Amon at a hearing on July 9. The lawyer claimed the government put a "cone of silence" on these allegations and didn't pursue them to save the NBA from embarrassment, according to his letter to the judge.

While prosecutors agreed Donaghy deserved a reduced sentence for "significant" and "substantial" help with their investigation, they said in court papers that Lauro overstated "the nature and value" of the former referee's cooperation.

"The allegations were unsubstantiated," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Goldberg said of Donaghy's claims about the NBA during the July 9 court hearing. "Further investigation by the government of these alleged activities did not lead to evidence of prosecutable federal offenses."

The NBA hired retired U.S. Army General Ronald Johnson to oversee all aspects of the league's officiating program as its senior vice president of referee operations, a newly created position.

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