Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy released in Fla. after serving sentence in gambling scandal

Ex-NBA referee Donaghy released from Fla. jail

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — Disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy is a free man after serving most of a 15-month sentence in a gambling scandal.

Pat Berdan, a consultant working with Donaghy, said he was released Wednesday from Hernando County Jail in Florida, where he had been held since August after officials said he violated travel restrictions while living at a halfway house in the Tampa area.

A New York judge sentenced the ex-referee in July 2008 after Donaghy said he took thousands of dollars from a professional gambler in exchange for inside tips on games — including games he worked.

The 42-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce in the tips-for-payoffs scheme.