Ex-trooper sentenced in gambling case

James Harney was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday for running a multimillion-dollar gambling ring, but the man he described as his equal partner - former Flyer Rick Tocchet - likely won't face jail time.

The difference?

Harney ran his bookmaking operation while serving as a New Jersey State Police trooper. He even took phone bets while on patrol, authorities said.

"That's what separates him from the other defendants," said Harney's attorney, Craig Mitnick.

Harney, 41, of Marlton, pleaded guilty in Superior Court exactly one year earlier to conspiracy, promoting gambling, and official misconduct charges.

He then began talking to investigators, providing information they were "not even aware of," Mitnick said. Harney's cooperation prodded the other two defendants in the case - Tocchet and James Andrew Ulmer - to plead guilty, he added.

Mitnick also said in court that his client provided information about Tocchet that would have made the retired hockey player far more culpable, but the information could not be confirmed.

"It is what it is," said Judge Thomas S. Smith Jr.

After yesterday's hearing in Mount Holly, Mitnick said there was evidence of a "huge trail of money" going to Tocchet. Authorities previously described many of the bettors as friends and associates of Tocchet's, including celebrities and professional athletes.

None of the bettors has been identified, and none has been charged. But sources have said that another former Flyer, Jeremy Roenick, and the actress Janet Jones, the wife of hockey great Wayne Gretzky, were among them.

"It is what it is," Mitnick said, echoing the judge's words. "Players stand together."

Harney and Tocchet reportedly met in the 1990s, when Harney was a bartender at a hotel near the sports complex in South Philadelphia.

Tocchet, a right winger and a fan favorite, played for the Flyers from 1984 to 1992 before bouncing around to five other NHL teams. He returned to the Flyers in 1999 and retired in 2002, having amassed more than 400 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes.

When Tocchet pleaded guilty, he said that he and Harney started their bookmaking operation in September 2002.

Authorities said their ring once took in $1.7 million in bets during a 40-day period that encompassed the Super Bowl and the college football bowl games.

Harney, a trooper for eight years, said they focused on college and professional football and basketball.

He described Tocchet as an equal partner in the venture, taking wagers and cash from bettors and covering losses. He said he routinely gave Tocchet "a bag of cash" from their profits.

Tocchet was an assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes in February 2006, when charges were filed in the case. Gretzky is the head coach of that team.

Tocchet's attorney has stressed that his client never took any action on hockey games. Tocchet was forced to take a leave from his job, but he hopes to avoid a ban from the NHL.

His sentencing has been scheduled for Aug. 24. At Tocchet's plea hearing, a prosecutor said there was a "presumption of non-incarceration" because he had pleaded to low-level offenses and because Tocchet had no criminal record.

Ulmer, of Swedesboro, admitted to bringing in bets for the ring, and faces less than a year of jail time. His sentencing has been slated for Aug. 17.

Harney, who forfeited about $700,000 worth of property, was given a "flat" sentence, meaning there is no period of parole ineligibility.

Harney, dressed in a blue suit, was handcuffed in the courtroom and taken into custody immediately. He would have to serve about a year before his release.

Harney declined the judge's invitation to speak, and he did not appear to have any family members or supporters in the courtroom.

"The issue is that he was a state trooper," Mitnick said. "In the end, that cost Mr. Harney his job; his liberty now; his wife and his children; and, ultimately, many of his assets."