Former Ref Donaghy Assaulted in Prison

Tim Donaghy, the former NBA referee who had been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for betting on basketball, is scheduled to be released on June 17. But it's not because he's served his sentence; it's because of a medical condition Donaghy now has after being attacked by a fellow inmate back in November of 2008.

The Daily News had the original report, which cited a source close to Donaghy who gave them the story. But the follow-up reporting done by Deadspin turned up some details that were far more interesting.

Tim Donaghy was attacked by another inmate claiming he had ties to the NY mob. Donaghy was threatened that he would be shot in the head and his knee caps would be broken. Donaghy suffered knee injuries that were confirmed via x-ray and an MRI taken 3-4 months after the attack. The attacker was removed from the facility and locked down in a higher level facility. The prison officials did not refer the attack to investigative authorities - they chose to handle it internally.

It's kind of a shame that once people are in prison they're subjected to violence by their fellow inmates, but you know how to avoid that? By not doing things that can get you sent to prison in the first place.

Not to make light of the situation, but we've all seen enough episodes of The Sopranos to know what happens when you get involved with less-than-legal characters -- you know, like the kind of guys that might help you make some money by illegally betting on NBA games that you're officiating, for instance. Once you get caught and start selling them out, well, things tend to end badly.

Donaghy will serve the remainder of his sentence in a halfway house in Florida, where he'll presumably be safe from these types of attacks -- at least until he's completely released from government custody, which is scheduled to take place on October 24. Once that happens, all bets are off.