Assisting feds cut ex-ref's jail time

0 Comments | USA TODAY, July, 2008 | by Andrew Alberg

NEW YORK -- The candidness of former NBA referee Tim Donaghy played a role in deciding on a 15-month sentence for his guilty plea on federal gambling charges, U.S. District Court Judge Carol Amon said Tuesday.

Amon made her ruling in Brooklyn after the defense and prosecution stated their positions on sentencing of Donaghy, 41.

Defense attorney John Lauro described his client -- who leaned forward and appeared anxious -- as a contrite and broken man who sleeps on his friend's couch because he has lost nearly everything, including his wife, Kim, in divorce.

"He has been stripped of every dignity and semblance of pride," Lauro said. "And he will live with what he has done the rest of his life."

Lauro also said Donaghy was a "model...