Disgraced ex-NBA referee Donaghy to be released

[clevfan]

Mon, Nov. 2, 2009


Disgraced ex-NBA referee Donaghy to be released

By Frank Fitzpatrick
Philly Inquirer Staff Writer

Tim Donaghy will be released from federal prison Wednesday, according to consultants the ex-NBA referee has hired to ease his post-prison transition.

Donaghy, a Havertown native who lost his job and was sentenced to 15 months for providing inside information to gamblers, hopes to find a job in sales or marketing, according to a press release issued last night by Executive Prison Consultants.

"Other than the injured condition of his knee, Donaghy is in good health and is excited about reuniting with his four daughters and family," the release read.

Calls to the federal prison camp in Pensacola, Fla., where Donaghy served most of his sentence were not immediately returned.

In August, Donaghy, who had been transferred to a halfway house in Tampa two months earlier, was sent back to the Pensacola facility after he made an unauthorized trip that his wife said was for treatment of his injured knee.

Donaghy told prison officials he'd been struck in the knee by a prisoner associated with the New York mob.

Donaghy, the release noted, plans to live in the Sarasota area and continue treatment for his gambling addiction. He also will try to find a new publisher for a book that Random House rejected last week.

[stevo]

Don't believe Donaghy's hype; NBA news, notes and links
By Geoffrey C. Arnold, The Oregonian
November 02, 2009, 10:00AM

Why should anyone believe Tim Donaghy ?

The disgraced and convicted ex-NBA referee, scheduled to be released from a federal prison on Wednesday, has reportedly written a book that regurgitates claims that NBA referees cannot be trusted to call a game fairly.

This time, reports have indicated that Donaghy is calling out referees by naming names. Another of the book's major claims is that the league's superstars receive preferential treatment. That's news? The National Football League does the same thing: It's called the "Tom Brady Rule" that protects quarterbacks.

If I were in his situation, I might write a "tell-all" book. Donaghy is a convicted crook and gambler who spent time in prison. He is apparently broke and with no hope of returning to his former profession to earn a legitimate living. Yeah, I would write a book, make a few sensational allegations, try to hit the television talk-show circuit and earn some much-needed cash.

There are certainly instances of player-referee animosity within the league over the years. Joe Crawford was suspended for ejecting Tim Duncan in 2007. Charles Barkley and Mike Mathis had a long-running feud. Clyde Drexler will tell you that Jake O'Donnell hated him (O'Donnell has said he had nothing against Drexler).

But fixing games? Come on. Illegally extending a playoff series to seven games? Please. Still, the league, sensitive to charges of impropriety, plans to investigate Donaghy's latest claims.

There would need to be a lot of people involved to fix the outcome of a game. Wouldn't somebody, someone who didn't want to participate, squeal and alert the league or authorities? Wouldn't a stand-up fellow referee, recognizing the stakes - reputation, career, credibility of the game - involved, say something? And by the way, if the Donaghy case didn't make it clear enough, fixing games is a crime. People, like Donaghy, who are caught and convicted can go to prison.

Maybe Donaghy is trying to clear a very disgraced name and dirty reputation with his book. Whatever his reasoning for writing a book, it's not going to help. He should simply be quiet, work in the community, allow time and good works to rehabilitate him and his reputation.

Don't believe Donaghy's hype; NBA news, notes and links | NBA Central - NBA News | NBA basketball news, rumors, scores, standings and more – OregonLive.com

[drunkguy]

Donaghy, a Havertown native who lost his job and was sentenced to 15 months for providing inside information to gamblers, hopes to find a job in sales or marketing, according to a press release issued last night by Executive Prison Consultants.

lots of tout services that could use some "salesman"

[clevfan]

Donaghy to be released from prison tomorrow

November 3, 2009
By WILLIAM BENDER

phillynews.com


Tim Donaghy's tumultuous journey through the federal prison system, which he says included a beatdown from an inmate who claimed to have New York mob connections, finally is coming to an end.

The Havertown-bred former NBA referee is scheduled to be released tomorrow from the Hernando County (Fla.) Jail, where he's finishing a 13-month prison term for his part in a gambling scandal that triggered an avalanche of negative publicity for the league.

Donaghy, 42, pleaded guilty in 2007 to federal wire-fraud and gambling charges. He admitted to accepting cash payoffs from two childhood buddies from Cardinal O'Hara High in exchange for betting tips that were based on his inside knowledge of the game.
"I've dealt with a lot of felons and I think he is sincerely repentant and contrite,'' said Pat Berdan, of Executive Prison Consultants, a firm that has been assisting Donaghy in prison.

"I see no intent, not even a hint of it, of revenge or retaliation or attempting to put the NBA in their place or anything like that,'' Berdan said. "He is quite remorseful about the whole thing.''

The Villanova grad served the bulk of his sentence at a minimum-security prison camp in Pensacola, Fla., where he suffered a knee injury when, he said, a man who claimed to have mob ties assaulted him.

Donaghy was transferred to a halfway house in June, but was sent to a county prison in August for a federal rule violation. His attorney, John Lauro, said Donaghy believed that he had permission to go to a health club to work on his knee, but federal authorities said it was an unauthorized trip and locked him up.

Lauro said the last few months have been tough on the ex-ref, who still needs knee surgery.

"County prison is the last place in the prison system that anybody would want to be," he said.

Berdan said Donaghy is looking forward to reuniting with his four children and hopes to land a job at a sales or marketing firm while continuing to seek a publisher for his tell-all book, "Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA."

In the book, which has been rejected by Random House, Donaghy accuses the league and certain referees of favoring star players and making calls to extend playoff series, according to lengthy excerpts published at Deadspin.com, a sports Web site.

The NBA, which previously has denied similar allegations that Donaghy has made through his lawyer in court filings, said last week that it would review the new allegations contained in his book.

Yesterday, Lauro said that he would "demand'' that Deadspin cease publishing book excerpts.

"We're going to take steps to stop that from happening. It's his property and it's being used improperly now, so the first step is to get this to stop," Lauro said, declining to specify whether that would include a lawsuit.

Deadspin's editor, A.J. Daulerio, declined to comment last night.

Berdan said Donaghy is looking for a new book publisher, but no deal is imminent.

"We have not landed anyone that has taken the ball and is going to run with it," Berdan said.