Disgraced referee Tim Donaghy is scheduled to begin serving a 15-month sentence today (Tuesday) at a minimum-security federal prison camp in Pensacola, Fla.
Donaghy, a veteran of 13 NBA seasons, created a public-relations nightmare for the league when he pleaded guilty last year to felony gambling charges. Two other gamblers who attended a Philadelphia-area high school with Donaghy — James “Baba” Battista and Thomas Martino — also pleaded guilty in the tips-for-payoffs gambling scheme. Battista was sentenced to 15 months; Martino to a year.
Donaghy, though, has continued to try to divert the spotlight back to the league’s officiating culture. And amid his allegations, the NBA is still awaiting the results of an independent review of its officiating programs — the so-called Pedowitz Report, named after former federal prosecutor Lawrence Pedowitz, whom the league commissioned to conduct the study. From Washington, a congressional committee is keeping a watchful eye on developments.
At the height of the NBA Finals in June between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, Donaghy’s attorney, John Lauro, ignited a firestorm with court filings that alleged “top executives of the NBA sought to manipulate games using referees to boost ticket sales and television ratings.” Donaghy’s attorney described a culture that allegedly discouraged referees from calling technical fouls on star players, and further insisting that many referees carry on “relationships” with team executives, coaches, and players that violate their NBA contracts.
In pleading guilty last year, Donaghy told the judge: “By having this nonpublic information, I was in a unique position to predict the outcome of NBA games.” Although the information is incomplete, investigators suggest Donaghy proved successful at picking winners a staggering 80 percent of the time.
Sources said the FBI, which discovered and alerted the NBA to the gambling scheme, found Donaghy’s information credible, though it didn’t lead to indictments against additional refs or anyone else affiliated with the league.
Stern has dismissed Donaghy’s allegations as “baseless,” suggesting that in making them, Donaghy was trying to lighten his prison sentence. Presumably, the league is banking on the Pedowitz Report to confirm the point that Donaghy was a lone operator and that no other officials engaged in criminal activity or compromised the league’s credibility.
Information from ESPN.com contributed to this report.