Timothy Francis Donaghy ( ; born January 7, 1967) is an American former basketball referee who worked in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 13 seasons from 1994 to 2007 until he was caught in a gambling scandal. During his career in the NBA, Donaghy officiated in 772 regular season games and 26 playoff games.
Donaghy resigned from the league on July 9, 2007, after reports of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegations that he bet on games that he officiated during his last two seasons and that he made calls that affected the point spread in those games. Donaghy later admitted to betting on games he officiated in each of the 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, and 2006–07 seasons. On August 15, 2007, Donaghy pleaded guilty to two federal charges related to the investigation. He was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison on July 29, 2008. He served 11 months in a federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida, and the remainder of his sentence in a halfway house, but was sent back to prison in August for violating his release terms. After serving out his sentence, he was released on November 4, 2009.
Early life and education Born in the Philadelphia suburb of Havertown, Pennsylvania, Donaghy attended Cardinal O'Hara High School in Springfield, Pennsylvania along with three other NBA referees: Joey Crawford, Mike Callahan, and Ed Malloy. His father, Gerry Donaghy, was a referee at the highest levels of NCAA men's basketball association for a long time. In 1989, Donaghy graduated from Villanova University with a degree in sales and marketing. While at Villanova, he played on the school's baseball team. According to the National Basketball Referee's Association, Donaghy participated and earned All-Catholic and All-Delaware County honors in baseball and All-Delaware County honors in basketball during high school, but then-Villanova baseball coach George Bennett contends that Donaghy did not play on the varsity team and that no records indicate that he was selected to the All-Catholic team in baseball or named to the All-Delaware County basketball team.
Personality and behavior As the father of Donaghy's lifelong best friend and fellow NBA scandal co-conspirator, Tommy Martino, said of him, "Timmy…(had) a very short temper and a penchant for wanting to get revenge for anything that he perceived as having been done to him where he was wrong." Donaghy's character flaws informed and influenced decisions in the federal NBA betting scandal investigation. He was notorious for his temper and "short fuse" dating at least to high school straight through the NBA scandal when a federal official described him as "a fucking loose cannon". He was arrested for allegedly harassing a mail carrier. He was sued by neighbors for harassment and invasion of privacy (suit was dropped, but Donaghy was suspended from his country club as a result of his actions). Another neighbor said Donaghy "was so bad you can’t imagine…The guy had a personality problem from day one, with 99% of people" with whom Donaghy came in contact. "Unless everything went his way…he just became a flaming maniac". The mayor of his township said Donaghy had "a very dictatorial personality, a very aggressive personality". Donaghy admitted to having someone else take his SAT exams for him when applying to Villanova University and one of Donaghy's high school teachers was quoted saying, "I taught him for a year, and I think every homework assignment he turned in to me was copied." Donaghy's wife, soon after filing for divorce, requested a restraining order because he allegedly threatened to "knock [her] head off [her] body" and that he was "enraged, out of control, cursing at [her] in front of [their] four children and making threats", although the matter was dropped when she didn't appear in court.
When Donaghy's name was publicized in 2007 as the referee involved in the scandal, reporters reached out to his former colleagues, teammates, classmates, and associates to learn more about him. The Delco Times wrote: "every teammate, classmate, or associate contacted…by the [Delco] Daily Times either chose not to comment on Donaghy or didn’t return phone calls…While there are those empathetic to Donaghy and his gambling-related plight, many others consider his a karmic downfall". The New York Daily News wrote, "Plenty of people did not remember Donaghy fondly. 'I think he's one of those guys who always thought he was smarter than the adults. He felt like he could do what he wanted and get away with it,' said one, adding, 'he would always talk to you like he was a genius and you were a dummy.'" National writers wrote similar assessments, including Yahoo! Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski: "several sources described him as fairly unpopular with his peers, past and present…From his Philly basketball roots to his peers in the NBA, Donaghy isn’t described with much affection."
Officiating career Before officiating in the NBA, Donaghy spent five years officiating in Pennsylvania high school basketball and seven seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), and he was the head official for the 1993 CBA All-Star Game.The Hot List, ESPNews, July 20, 2007. The following year, he joined the NBA, where he worked for 13 years, officiating in 772 regular-season games and 20 playoff games. Donaghy was a participant in the NBA's Read to Achieve program, for which he participated in an event at the Universal Charter school during the 2002 NBA Finals. His uniform number was 21.
During a 2003 regular-season game, Donaghy called a technical foul on Rasheed Wallace, then playing with the Portland Trail Blazers, for throwing a ball at another official during a game. Wallace confronted Donaghy after the game, screaming obscenities and, according to Donaghy, threatening him. Wallace was suspended for seven games; this was the longest suspension issued by the league for an incident not involving violence or drugs.
Donaghy was one of three referees who worked the Pacers–Pistons brawl at The Palace of Auburn Hills on November 19, 2004, which ended in a fight between Pacers players and Pistons fans.
Betting scandal
On July 20, 2007, columnist Murray Weiss of the New York Post reported an investigation by the FBI into allegations of an NBA referee betting on games and controlling the point spread. It was revealed that Donaghy, who claimed during the sentencing phase of his case he had a gambling problem, placed tens of thousands of dollars in bets on games during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons and had allegedly been approached by low-level mob associates to work on a gambling scheme. Reporters, especially those who worked crime beats and who had quality law enforcement and "street" sources, soon discounted the supposed involvement of the mob in the scandal, however. Mike Missanelli of The Stephen A. Smith Show suggested that Donaghy had gotten himself into debt and tried to make it up by betting on games. Missanelli did not identify Donaghy by name because at the time of the broadcast, it had not yet been confirmed that he was the target of the probe.
While the league devotes significant resources to monitor officials' performance, it found out about the affair only when the FBI stumbled upon Donaghy in the midst of a broader organized crime investigation. NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement, "We would like to assure our fans that no amount of effort, time or personnel is being spared to assist in this investigation, to bring to justice an individual who has betrayed the most sacred trust in professional sports, and to take the necessary steps to protect against this ever happening again." He called the scandal a "wakeup call that says you can't be complacent."
On July 27, U.S. Representative Bobby Rush of Illinois, the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, asked to meet with Stern regarding the Donaghy matter. In a letter to Stern, Rush indicated that he might call a hearing "should the facts warrant public scrutiny." He also said that the affair could potentially be "one of the most damaging scandals in the history of American sports."
Earlier that day, federal sources told the New York Daily News that Donaghy would surrender to the FBI and plead guilty to gambling charges. The Daily News also learned that the bookies in the scandal were two high school classmates of Donaghy's who embellished their mob ties. The Daily News reported that at his friends' request, Donaghy had passed word about the crews working the games on which they planned to bet. The Associated Press identified one of the men as James Battista, a former owner of a sports bar in Havertown, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb. Battista's lawyer told the AP that his client expected to be indicted. It was later learned that it was Donaghy who embellished the supposed involvement of organized crime in the scandal, and that the bets for the 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, and 2006-07 NBA seasons were almost exclusively on games officiated by Donaghy. Indeed, researchers investigated the sociology of the bets using electronic betting records and betting line data and concluded there was no evidence to support Donaghy's contention he bet almost as equally on games he officiated, and considerable evidence the bets were on games he officiated (which supported the FBI submissions of Donaghy's best friend and NBA co-conspirator Tommy Martino and of pro gambler cooperators).
At his home in Bradenton, Donaghy did not initially comment on his situation. He reportedly claimed to be "the butler" to visiting reporters and turned his sprinklers on a freelance photographer for the New York Times when he got too close. His then-wife Kimberly passed a note to reporters telling them not to bother asking them any questions.
On August 15, Donaghy appeared in a Brooklyn federal court and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting wagering information through interstate commerce. Donaghy told U.S. District Judge Carol Amon that he used coded language to tip Battista about players' physical condition and player/referee relations. In doing so, Donaghy disclosed classified information that he obtained as an NBA referee. Donaghy initially received $2,000 per correct pick, but his calls were so accurate that Battista increased his take to $5,000. In total, he received $300,000 to pass inside information to the bookies. Another high school friend of Donaghy, Thomas Martino, acted as the middle man. Donaghy also claimed that he had a severe gambling addiction for which he was taking antidepressants. Researchers explained the "coded language" referenced by Donaghy was significant because it supported the contention of his co-conspirators (who each discussed the code) that the bets were on games Donaghy officiated (i.e., if Donaghy phoned in a pick using the code "Mom" for the home team, the only way his middleman Martino could know which team to pick was if the game/matchup was known).
Donaghy specifically admitted to passing information about two games during the 2006–07 season. Prosecutors also said that Donaghy bet on games himself. Donaghy was fined $500,000 and ordered to pay at least $30,000 in restitution. ESPN legal analyst Lester Munson believed that Battista was one of the FBI's prime targets, based on the large amounts of money he bet.