Donaghy's attorney rips prosecutors in letter trying to keep former NBA referee out of jail

[clevfan]

Tue, May. 20, 2008


Donaghy's attorney rips prosecutors in letter trying to keep former NBA referee out of jail

By WILLIAM BENDER
Philadelphia Daily News

TIM DONAGHY'S lawyer lashed out yesterday at federal prosecutors in New York in a 36-page sentencing memorandum designed to keep the disgraced NBA referee out of jail.

Attorney John F. Lauro ripped into the feds for giving Donaghy's gambling associates a slap on the wrist, while Donaghy - who ratted them out - is facing a heftier sentence.

Lauro also said Donaghy provided investigators with information about another NBA referee who secretly passed confidential information to a coach, and about other circumstances that affected the outcome of games and "prevented games from being played on a level playing field.''

That triggered a blistering response last night from a top NBA official, who called Donaghy's claim "a desperate act of a convicted felon.''

Yesterday's sentencing memorandum, filed in Brooklyn federal court, provides a detailed account of Donaghy's "tragic fall from grace'' and explains how his gambling addiction - his "psychological demon'' - took root years ago when he started betting on professional sports games with a Delaware County insurance salesman and a local bookie.

Donaghy, 41, who has admitted to betting on basketball games he officiated and providing inside "picks'' to two buddies from Cardinal O'Hara High School, is facing up to 25 years in prison and up to a $500,000 fine at his July 14 sentencing on wire-fraud and interstate gambling charges.

The former referee, who resigned last summer after working 13 seasons, likely will receive a lighter sentence in exchange for his cooperation and guilty plea. But Donaghy's lawyer argued yesterday that he shouldn't serve any jail time.

Lauro lambasted the government for offering generous plea deals "that can only be described as aberrant and counter-intuitive'' to Donaghy's high school pals, James "Baba'' Battista and Thomas Martino, while it was Donaghy who gave prosecutors the ammunition they needed to score the convictions.

"For reasons known only to the government, 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,'' Lauro wrote to U.S. District Judge Carol Amon, referring to Martino and Battista.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, he said, "is taking a unique approach - punish an early and truthful cooperator more severely than other defendants who acted contrary to the interests of the government.''

Battista, 43, of Phoenixville, is facing 10 to 16 months imprisonment for illegal gambling, while Martino, 42, of Marcus Hook, is facing 12 to 18 months in jail for conspiring to commit wire-fraud. They both pleaded guilty last month and are scheduled to be sentenced July 11.

Lauro declined to comment yesterday, as did Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Goldberg, who is prosecuting the cases.

Yesterday's filing was in response to a letter Goldberg filed Friday, claiming that the referee cost the NBA nearly $305,000 by depriving it of his honest services.

For the three seasons between 2003 and 2006, Goldberg said that Donaghy provided picks for 30 to 40 of the games he officiated each season and that he provided 14 picks for games he worked during the 2006-2007 season.

The government's loss calculation is based on Donaghy's annual salary, which fluctuated from $172,000 to $243,000 between 2003 and 2007, including pay for playoff games.

Lauro countered yesterday that the total loss to the league is only $46,240 and that restitution has already been paid because the NBA withheld about $49,000 of Donaghy's salary.

In arguing for a probationary sentence, Lauro sought to play down Donaghy's involvement in the ill-fated gambling scheme and pointed the finger at Battista, a professional gambler also known as "Sheep.''

Lauro said Battista called Donaghy in 1994 during his first year as an NBA referee and asked whether he was going to be "up and up,'' which Donaghy interpreted to mean whether he would use his position to help Battista gamble. Donaghy, according to his attorney, rejected the offer and said he would contact the authorities if Battista called again.

But a few years ago, Donaghy began betting heavily on professional sports with Norwood insurance salesman Jack Concannon through local bookie Pete Ruggieri, Lauro wrote.

Eventually, they began gambling on games that Donaghy officiated. Concannon, a Monsignor Bonner basketball star and former coach of the Friars, was interviewed by the FBI last year, but he will not be charged, his attorney, Joseph Fioravanti, said yesterday.

Ruggieri's attorney could not be reached yesterday.

According to the account Lauro provided, Battista muscled his way into the action in late 2006 by threatening to report Donaghy to the NBA if the referee did not help him select bets.

"Battista also threatened Tim's family, stating that Tim would not want people from New York [Mafia figures] visiting his wife and kids,'' Lauro wrote.

Battista's attorney, Jack McMahon Jr., yesterday dismissed that as "ridiculous.''

"That Battista threatened Donaghy and his family in any way is all fantasy land. He didn't have to threaten Donaghy to gamble,'' McMahon said. "Donaghy was ready, willing and able to gamble. He's a gambling addict. He said so himself. He's been running around with this 'poor me' attitude, while all it was was greed, greed, greed.''

Martino's attorney, Vicki Herr, who has described her client as a "minimal participant'' in the scheme, said "there was never any threat made by Battista'' when the three men met in December 2006 at the Philadelphia International Airport's Marriott Hotel to work out the details of the scheme.

"Timmy's been doing this for 3 years before these guys get involved,'' Herr said. "I don't think you can minimize Timmy's role in this even if he cooperated.''

Lauro estimated that Battista "profited by possibly more than hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings'' by using Donaghy's inside information. Prosecutors say the referee's picks were based on his knowledge of which officiating crews were assigned to upcoming games, how they interacted with certain players and the physical condition of the players.

Donaghy's sentencing memorandum also claims that the referee gave authorities information on other "NBA-related matters that were of interest to law-enforcement officials.''

"Tim described the gambling activities of NBA officials, which were contrary to league rules,'' Lauro wrote. "He also furnished information concerning circumstances that favored certain players or teams over others. In one instance, for example, confidential information was secretly passed from another referee to a coach.''

Lauro said the league "allowed an environment to exist that made inside information, including knowledge of the particular officials who would work a game, valuable in connection with predicting the outcome of games. For example, particular relationships between officials and coaches or players affected the outcome of games, and other practices prevented games from being played on a level playing field.''

Joel Litvin, the NBA's president of league and basketball operations, said in a statement last night that yesterday's court filing "contains an assortment of lies, unfounded allegations, and facts that have been previously acknowledged, such as the fact that certain NBA referees engaged in casino gambling in violation of NBA rules.

"The letter is the desperate act of a convicted felon who is hoping to avoid prison time and the only thing it proves is that Mr. Donaghy is no more trustworthy today than he was when he was breaking the law by betting on NBA games.'' *

Daily News sports writers Phil Jasner and Joseph Santoliquito contributed to this story.

[clevfan]

Tue, May. 20, 2008


Donaghy case: How it began
Compiled by Daily News

From a 36-page letter filed yesterday in Brooklyn, N.Y., by John Lauro, attorney for disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy:

Tim attended Cardinal O'Hara High School in Pennsylvania with Thomas Martino and James Battista, who have also been indicted in this case as a result of Tim's cooperation. Tim and Martino socialized occasionally while Tim attended Villanova and later when he became a referee. Tim was never close with Battista, who had become a professional gambler and bookmaker, with professed ties to organized crime.

In 1994, Battista telephoned Tim during his first year as an NBA referee. Battista asked Tim whether he was going to be "up and up," which Tim understood to mean whether he would use his position to help Battista gamble. Tim told Battista to never call again. When Tim spoke next to Martino, he told Martino that if Battista ever called again, he would report Battista to the authorities.

However, years later, Battista learned (probably through [Peter] Ruggieri) that Tim and [Jack] Concannon had been betting on sports events. We believe Battista (once again through Ruggieri) may have been secretly betting on the selections Tim made with Concannon. At one point, Tim and Concannon stopped betting on sports, and Battista apparently became angry. Battista then used Martino to contact Tim. On December 12, 2006, Tim was in Philadelphia to officiate a game between Boston and Philadelphia. Tim planned to meet Martino for dinner in Philadelphia. When Martino picked Tim up at the airport, Battista was in the car.

Martino and Battista drove Tim back to the hotel. During the car ride, Battista said that he knew Tim bet on NBA games with Concannon. Battista wanted Tim to help him select bets. Battista told Tim he would report Tim's gambling activities to the NBA if Tim didn't provide selections. Later at the hotel restaurant, Battista told Tim to call Martino in order to relay selections. In return, Battista agreed to pay Tim $2,000 for each correct selection. If Tim's selection did not win, he would receive nothing. Battista also threatened Tim's family, stating that Tim would not want people from New York (Mafia figures) visiting his wife and kids.

Battista, Martino and Tim participated in these actions for approximately four months, and bet on 30 games. We believe Battista profited by possibly more than hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings. Tim obtained a net gain of about $25,000 from Battista for his participation in those activities.

[clevfan]

Tue, May. 20, 2008


Excerpt from Donaghy lawyer's filing
Compiled by Daily News

Here is an excerpt from a 36-page letter filed yesterday in Brooklyn, N.Y., by John Lauro, the attorney for disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy:

Tim Donaghy's tragic fall from grace cannot be explained without understanding the psychological demon that he lived with for many years ... Nothing in Tim's background or upbringing would suggest that he would be on the adverse side of a federal indictment. Yet, as so often in life, the perception of reality is far different than the actual circumstances ...

Tim suffers from a pathological gambling condition, which went undetected for many years. The disease caused behavior that contradicted everything about how Tim led his life ... Tim participated in gambling activities involving NBA games, even though he obtained minimal financial gain ...

He accepted responsibility for his actions and provided substantial assistance to the government in connection with the prosecution of other individuals. Prior to entering into a plea agreement, Tim met with federal prosecutors and agents in order to provide crucial information regarding the activities of other individuals who later pled guilty in this matter. He also offered assistance with respect to NBA activities that were of interest to federal law enforcement, but completely unrelated to his gambling activities ...

Besides his cooperation, Tim also obtained treatment for his condition. He participates in regular therapy sessions with a certified gambling counselor. Tim also attends regular Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Without doubt, Tim made significant errors in judgment, but he also tried to right the wrongs of his conduct by assisting the government and seeking treatment for his disorder.

[clevfan]

All bets are off if Tim Donaghy is right

Mitch Lawrence
NY DAILY NEWS
May 20, 2008

After an epic Game 7 in Boston on Sunday, with the Celtics riding Paul Pierce's standout play to a win over the mercurial LeBron James, the last thing the NBA needs is another visit from Tim Donaghy.

But Donaghy, the man the NBA insists was the rogue ref in last summer's betting scandal, is back to rock the league, no matter what happens in Tuesday's Eastern Conference finals or for the rest of the playoffs.

In a letter from Donaghy's attorney to the federal judge in his trial that was obtained by the Daily News, Donaghy claims that he provided information to the government that showed that there was more hanky-panky going on between other refs and coaches and players - not just Donaghy. And Donaghy contends that the government didn't want these revelations - "information concerning circumstances that favored certain players or teams over others" - made public.

What players? Which teams? Donaghy's attorney, John F. Lauro, doesn't say.

"In one instance, for example, confidential information was secretly passed from another referee to a coach," Donaghy charges.

What coach? Which ref? Donaghy doesn't identify those people either, so the league has to be relieved by that. But this is bad, really bad, for David Stern and his owners and players, even if Donaghy didn't name names. This is the first time that Donaghy has implicated a coach as he tries to reduce his sentence from 33 months in jail to no more than six months and probation.

It's a strange strategy, accusing the people he's cutting a deal with of ignoring his information. In a sense, he's spitting in their faces.

Predictably, the league trashed Donaghy's inflammatory accusations. Joel Litvin, the NBA's president of league and basketball operations, in a statement called Donaghy's letter "the desperate act of a convicted felon who is hoping to avoid prison time. ... Mr. Donaghy is no more trustworthy than he was when he was breaking the law by betting on NBA games."

But if true, this is a bombshell since the league has said from the start that Donaghy was the lone ref to participate in the illegal gambling. From the get-go, the league insisted that no other NBA person - coach, player, team official, whoever - was part of Donaghy's illegal operations that went on for three years and encompassed more than 100 games. The league has tried to paint a picture that no one else in the entire NBA community knew of Donaghy's shenanigans. From the league's perspective, the guy was operating in a vacuum.

Maybe. If not, how come no one else has been outed, no other ref has been implicated?

Is Donaghy telling the truth? Or is he just angry that the two other men in the scheme he engaged in are getting off with more lenient sentences. Who knows, but it's never a good time for the NBA to have to answer to these kinds of questions about whether its games are on the up and up. Especially today.

Tonight is the NBA draft lottery and we all know how the league still is being accused of fixing the Patrick Ewing draft in 1985 so that he would come to the Knicks. Unfounded as it might be, that charge will linger forever.

But Donaghy is a messier scandal, by far, because it goes right to the core of the integrity of the league. Donaghy contends that the NBA fostered the exchange of valuable information that helped gamblers and turned the league's games into a mockery.

"The NBA allowed an environment to exist that made inside information, including knowledge of the particular officials who work a game, valuable in connection with predicting the outcomes of games," Lauro wrote to U.S. District Court Judge Carol B. Amon. "For example, the particular relationships between officials and coaches or players affected the outcomes of games, and other practices prevented games from being played on a level playing field."

Game 7 in Boston was waged on a level playing field, with Pierce advancing and LeBron going home for the season. You can believe Donaghy or choose to think he's just throwing one more firebomb, but now he is back to tell you it's not always the case.

[clevfan]

Donaghy scandal won't go away

Newsday.com

Intriguing day for the NBA. The Eastern Conference Finals open in Detroit with the Celtics trying to snap out of their road funk. For those in a more protracted funk, the draft lottery will be held tonight in beautiful Secaucus, N.J. Alan Hahn and I will be there to monitor the Knicks’ fortunes or misfortunes, depending on when David Stern pulls out the envelope with the “NY” inside.

At the same time, the gambling problem has once again reared its ugly head – and we’re not just talking about Charles Barkley’s gambling problem and ugly head. Disgraced ref Tim Donaghy, in an effort to obtain more lenient sentencing, has filed papers with the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn in which he makes vague allegations that he wasn’t the only NBA employee involved in the betting scandal that brought him down.



Federal prosecutors filed papers last Friday asserting that Donaghy admitted to betting on more than 100 games he worked from 2003 to 2006. Yesterday, Donaghy’s attorney, John Lauro, filed pre-sentencing documents with several damning yet unsubstantiated claims. Among them, Lauro alleged that the outcomes of NBA games were influenced by relationships among referees, players, and coaches. The court filing did not provide specifics.

Nor did Lauro provide specifics about two more sensational allegations:
1) That the NBA somehow pressured federal prosecutors into “shutting down this prosecution to avoid the disclosure of information unrelated to Tim’s conduct.”
2) That in one instance, confidential information that may have affected the outcome of a game was passed from a referee to a coach. The identity of the referee and coach were not disclosed.

Joel Litvin, the NBA’s president for league and basketball operations, rejected Donaghy’s claims in a statement.

“The letter is the desperate act of a convicted felon who is hoping to avoid prison time,” Litvin said, without addressing any specific allegations. “And the only thing it proves is that Mr. Donaghy is no more trustworthy today than he was when he was breaking the law by betting on N.B.A. games.”

Donaghy pleaded guilty last August to two felonies related to receiving payments for providing confidential information about NBA games to gamblers who were wagering on them. He faces up to 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine when he is sentenced July 14 by U.S. District Judge Carol B. Amon.

Donaghy’s accomplices, James Battista and Thomas Martino, who also pleaded guilty, face less jail time despite not having cooperated with federal prosecutors. Battista faces 10-16 months in prison, while Martino faces 12-18 months.

Some observations: You have to take Donaghy’s court pleadings for what they are worth. His allegations cannot be separated from his desire to receive a more lenient sentence, and the fact that he provides no specifics to back his claims makes them suspect.

His assertion that other refs were involved with gambling activity is old news. Last October, David Stern acknowledged that more than half of the league’s 56 refs violated NBA rules by engaging in casino-type wagering. The refs were not punished; instead, Stern said he was leaning toward relaxing the rules and allowing refs to wager in casinos during the offseason.

The idea that the outcome of NBA games is influenced by relationships among the participants doesn’t pass the “duh” test. Any sporting activity involving humans is subject to human impulse, and split-second decisions by referees or umpires are always – subconsciously, at least – influenced by the relationships between the official and the player.

Having said that, the heat is not off Stern or the league by any stretch of the imagination until Donaghy and his co-thugs finally are sentenced and the league can prove that it thoroughly vetted all of his allegations. Stern can dodge the Donaghy questions tonight if he wants to, opting to direct the media’s attention instead to the conference finals and glorious excitement of the lottery – not to mention the prime rib carving stations and bacchanalian dessert table.

But he can’t avoid bringing closure to the Donaghy scandal forever. Once Donaghy and his cohorts are sentenced, Stern has to come forward with the full disclosure that he promised on the day he first addressed the scandal. Anything less would make the cloud of suspicion a permanent companion for his sport.

Posted by Ken Berger on May 20, 2008 11:36 AM

[Crony]

Lawyer: Ex-ref Donaghy cooperated in NBA probe
9 hours, 25 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AP)—Disgraced basketball referee Tim Donaghy told investigators in the NBA betting probe that relationships among officials, coaches and players “affected the outcome of games,” his attorney said. The league said the charges were unfounded.

Donaghy’s attorney made the assertions in a letter filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on Monday, in which he argued that his client should be sentenced to probation because he fully cooperated with prosecutors and has been undergoing treatment for his gambling addiction.

The attorney also suggested that Donaghy told investigators about the gambling activities of other NBA officials and about a referee that passed “confidential” information to an unidentified coach.

The attorney, John F. Lauro, wrote that the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District agreed to plea agreements with other defendants in the case, even though his client told investigators about NBA matters outside of the government’s initial investigation. Lauro said the disparity in treatment could not be fully explained because prosecutors have “surrounded this case with a cone of silence.”

The U.S. attorney’s office said Tuesday it has no comment.


In this Tuesday, April 10, 200…

AP - May 19, 11:52 pm EDT
In a footnote, the attorney suggested that the NBA might have “pressured” the attorney’s office “into shutting down this prosecution to avoid the disclosure of information unrelated to Tim’s conduct.”

“The letter filed today on Mr. Donaghy’s behalf contains an assortment of lies, unfounded allegations, and facts that have been previously acknowledged, such as the fact that certain NBA referees engaged in casino gambling in violation of NBA rules,” said Joel Litvin, the NBA president for league and basketball operations, in a statement. “The letter is the desperate act of a convicted felon who is hoping to avoid prison time.”

The veteran referee pleaded guilty last year to felony charges for taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games he officiated.

While citing Donaghy’s commitment to his family, charitable activities and positive feedback for his career as a referee prior to his “tragic fall from grace,” his attorney said that his client’s “aberrant conduct” can only be understood in the context of his gambling addiction, a “crippling disease, which prevented him from exercising complete rational self control.”

Lauro wrote that Donaghy is taking steps to get treatment for his condition, including therapy with a gambling counselor and attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

“Without a doubt, Tim made significant errors in judgment, but he also tried to right the wrongs of his conduct by assisting the government and seeking treatment for his disorder,” Lauro wrote.

Donaghy is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14. By law, he faces up to 25 years in prison, though the term could be much lower under sentencing guidelines.