Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy leaves prison for halfway house to finish sentence

Former NBA referee leaves prison for halfway house

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy is headed from federal prison to a Florida halfway house to serve the rest of his 15-month sentence in a gambling scandal.

Donaghy was traveling Wednesday from the Saufley Field minimum-security prison camp in Pensacola to the halfway house in Tampa.

A New York judge sentenced Donaghy last year to 15 months after the referee said he took thousands of dollars from a professional gambler in exchange for inside tips on NBA games — including games he worked. Donaghy said he was a gambling addict.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce in the tips-for-payoffs scheme. Donaghy is scheduled for release in October.