Disgraced NBA Referee Gets Prison Term

Tim Donaghy, NBA referee for 13 seasons, was sentenced to 15 months in prison by a federal judge in Brooklyn on Tuesday for taking payoffs from a professional gambler for inside tips on games. The trial followed a year-long investigation.

Donaghy's sentencing closes an ugly chapter in a scandal that rocked the National Basketball Association. Donaghy could have received up to 33 months at his sentencing.

Worst ever
Donaghy pleaded guilty last August to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce. League commissioner David Stern called the affair "most serious situation and worst situation that I have ever experienced" during his decades overseeing basketball.

Last week, two of Donaghy's former high school classmates were sentenced to over a year in prison for their roles in the scheme.

Referee's admission
Donaghy, 40, apologized to the court, saying, "I brought shame on myself and my family." Donaghy pleaded guilty to two felony charges in connection with illegal betting on NBA games, admitting that he fed inside information to gamblers, some of it regarding games he officiated.

During a hearing before Judge Carol B. Amon at the United States District Court in Brooklyn, Donaghy also admitted to betting on games in which he officiated. He faces up to 25 years in prison, while the NBA faces months and perhaps years of suspicion regarding the integrity of its games.

Damage control
League Commissioner Stern called Donaghy's actions "an act of betrayal of what we know in sports as a sacred trust." He said that the league had conducted an investigation two years ago into allegations that Donaghy had a gambling problem, but that the probe did not turn up anything. "This is something that is the worst that could happen to a professional sports league," Stern said.

A retired NBA referee said, "We are a badly wounded group. We call each other almost every day and say, 'How are you today? I had a bad one.' You have to understand that this cuts to the core of what we do. The people who referee at this level have a passion for the game that is beyond what anyone can imagine. Donaghy took that and degraded it."