New York judge sentences disgraced NBA ref to 15 months

NEW YORK — Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in prison Tuesday for setting off a gambling scandal that tarnished the league's reputation and raised questions about the integrity of its officiating.

The sentencing in Brooklyn federal court culminated a case that hung over the league throughout the season and even into the NBA finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. League commissioner David Stern has repeatedly denied Donaghy's claim that corruption among referees goes beyond him.

Donaghy's lawyer had asked U.S. District Judge Carol Amon to give his client probation, arguing Donaghy is a pathological gambler. Amon, who could have imposed a sentence of 33 months, gave the former ref credit for cooperating with investigators, but scolded him for disgracing the sport.

"The NBA, the players and the fans relied on him to perform his job in an honest manner," she said.

In addition to the prison time, the judge ordered Donaghy to serve three years of supervised release.

Folding his arms but showing no other emotion, the 41-year-old Donaghy apologized to the court. "I brought shame on myself and my family," he said.

Donaghy pleaded guilty last August to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce for taking payoffs from a professional gambler for inside tips on games.

"By having this nonpublic information, I was in a unique position to predict the outcome of NBA games," he told a judge at the time.

Donaghy didn't stop there: In June, he marred the NBA finals by making fresh accusations that the league routinely encouraged refs to ring up bogus fouls to manipulate results, but discouraged them from calling technical fouls on star players to keep them in games and protect television ratings.

The allegations — contained in court papers arguing that Donaghy deserved leniency for voluntarily disclosing the alleged corruption — included one instance claiming referees rigged a 2002 playoff series to force it to a revenue-boosting seventh game.

Though the papers didn't name the teams involved, only the Los Angeles Lakers-Sacramento Kings series went to seven games during those playoffs. The Lakers went on to win the championship.

Both Stern and the league's officials have said Donaghy made the claims to get a lighter sentence.