[Dark Horse]

Lawyer: Ex-ref Donaghy cooperated in NBA probe

1 hour 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 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.

So much for the NBA cleaning up its act. There official stance is that there was one single dirty ref. And they will hold on to that for dear life.

[rake922]

so the coaches are in on it... nice

[Dark Horse]

This could be one heck of a movie! But let's start with a tell all book. Stern's got to just love the prospect of that. The way I see it TD has a lot of leverage. He could do plenty of damage.

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.

Hard to believe: 2K per game.
What does a college point shaver go for these days?

[rake922]

College officials make peanuts...... This must be so prevalent in NCAA

[MyKickerHurts]

It's human nature to cheat, and you're telling me when you are that involved the outcome of the game you're not gambling on it? Give me a freaking break. SUre not all of the Refs are involved but there are more than you think. Rake you are right College hoops are the prime example of it. They don't get paid since they are in college and they got to make their cheddar some how. What more of a better way than to shave a point here or there.
In the NBA it's obvious, way to obvious. And most of all coaches are involved in it, on a major level. Let's see we need to get the over to win our bet. OK 30 seconds left we are down by 7, let's see we have no shot in winning the game but I got a shot of winning my Over bet if I just have my team foul the $hit out of the other.

[Bluehorseshoe]

NEW YORK -- 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 who passed "confidential" information to an unidentified coach.

[diogee]

Ahh Shit is getting deep now. You know TD will do what he can to get out of some of the time he will have to serve.

[Tsoprano]

If Donaghy were to keep snitching on people, I would think he'd rather safe in a prison cell than wandering around in the outside world.

[diogee]

Lol...true that Tso. I guess it would suck dearly to have to keep jumping locations and have eyes in the back of your head.

[Tsoprano]

Lol...true that Tso. I guess it would suck dearly to have to keep jumping locations and have eyes in the back of your head.

Not just that, you would think the fans would be just as angry, and that is hard to run from a portion of the Country. I mean imagine if he screwed your team that represents you out of the playoffs time and time again. What a piece of shit.

[diogee]

Yeah that is very true as well...the better majority of the US population would recognize the guy.

[JBC77]

For the sake of argument. The guys all work in the same industry. To think that this is the action of a single person is foolish. Players, coaches, refs........very easy to develop relations with those you work with......

You can't blame NBA officials. What are they supposed to say, yeah our league is a fixed gambling operation. At this point games fixed could be in the thousands.

Think about the early years of the NBA. No one got paid sh1t. Must have been 10X worse back then.

[Tsoprano]

For the sake of argument. The guys all work in the same industry. To think that this is the action of a single person is foolish. Players, coaches, refs........very easy to develop relations with those you work with......

You can't blame NBA officials. What are they supposed to say, yeah our league is a fixed gambling operation. At this point games fixed could be in the thousands.

Think about the early years of the NBA. No one got paid sh1t. Must have been 10X worse back then.

dont mean shit, sure there are other crooks, but he was the only one admitted and convicted lately, so f\*\*k this piece of crap.

[BuddyBear]

It's not a stretch to say that the entire NBA seasons in which Tim Donaghy officiated are fixed.

When you think about it, the outcomes of the games he officiated not only impacted who won or who lost, but it also impacts seeding in the NBA playoffs. Seeding in turn impacts matchups which in turn impact who advances and who goes home. For example, the Mavericks would surely have gotten by LAC last year if they got the #8 seed instead of GS who was a bad matchup for them. Not saying that Tim Donaghy caused Dallas to lose but the cards did not fall into place last year as we all know now.

In fact, all it takes is one rouge official or coach or player to have this happen year in and year out. Knowing what we know about how easy it is to fix an NBA game, there is a very strong possibility that the NBA has been fixed for quite some time. Stern has been saying for years that there is no corrupt elements in the NBA and then he has this happen right under his nose or as he described it "a complete shock." Who's to say there aren't any more corrupt elements out there that have gone undetected. Many of these officials have been officiating 10 and 20+ years long before the NBA got "serious" about this lack of institutional control.

I am of the opinion that most games are clean, but even just a few games that aren't means the whole season is corrupt.

[pavyracer]

This player conspiracy about fixed games can be fully explained now. Come on guys, Do you actually believe that a player being payed tens of millions of dollars every year can't hit more than 50% of his FT's after 15 years in the league?

Any similarities to active players is purely fictional.