Referee linked to alleged area bookmaker

Federal agents investigating NBA referee Tim Donaghy for alleged gambling activities have focused in part on his ties to sports bookmakers in the Philadelphia region, people close to the investigation said yesterday.

Several people from Delaware County who know either Donaghy or reputed Phoenixville bookmaker James "Baa Baa" Battista were recently subpoenaed in the case and traveled to New York to testify before a federal grand jury, a source said.

Battista, 42, attended Cardinal O'Hara High School with Donaghy in the mid-1980s. Battista was contacted by federal prosecutors a few months ago, his lawyer said yesterday.

"We've been in a holding pattern ever since," said Jack McMahon, who has a Center City office. "We're still not even sure he's going to be indicted, but as a practical matter, we expect he will be. Should that happen, I can tell you my client intends to turn himself in and also intends to vigorously defend himself."

Asked if Battista had ties to organized crime in the area, McMahon scoffed.

"Other than his last name being Italian, he's no more involved with organized crime than you are," he said.

Battista was one of five Delaware County men arrested in 1998 by Pennsylvania State Police on bookmaking and conspiracy charges, records show. Computers and records were seized and authorities suspected they had come upon a major betting ring. But within months, the case devolved. Battista's case, for example, was transferred to an alternative-dispute resolution program and he paid about $800 in court costs.

"It was a garden-variety sports book case," recalled Arthur Shuman Jr., the lawyer who represented Battista.

Battista also pleaded guilty and paid fines on criminal mischief and various alcohol and driving charges stemming from two 1984 arrests.

At the time of the 1998 arrest, Battista's address was listed as Havertown, though public records show he maintained a home in Las Vegas from 1997 to 2001. He purchased his Phoenixville residence in 2000.

McMahon did not say how his client earned a living. Public records also indicated Battista once owned a Delaware County restaurant called Marina's.

Battista is believed to be one of the two area bookmakers the FBI has alleged are connected to Donaghy.

A Cardinal O'Hara administrator confirmed yesterday that federal authorities had contacted him with questions about two bookmakers they said attended the Catholic high school in Marple Township about the same time as Donaghy.

The name of the second man has not yet surfaced, McMahon said.

An FBI spokesman in New York, James Margolin, refused to comment on the case.

The focus of the probe is whether Donaghy, 40, who has since resigned after 13 seasons as an NBA official, shared information about the league with sports bookies.

The investigation is being conducted by FBI agents in Brooklyn who work on an organized crime squad, but several people involved cautioned that this did not necessarily mean the case is mob-related.

Two people who spoke on condition of anonymity said that federal authorities suspect that Donaghy provided inside information to sports bookies just minutes before NBA games he was refereeing began.

Onetime West Chester neighbors, with whom the referee regularly feuded, have said Donaghy liked to gamble, particularly at the Borgata in Atlantic City.

Raised in Havertown, Donaghy graduated from Cardinal O'Hara in 1985. Battista, from Clifton Heights, graduated two years earlier.

There has been no indication that the two men knew each other, but in the two years they both attended O'Hara, yearbooks listed each as a homeroom representative and an intramural participant.

Battista played football as a junior. He wrestled and played rugby as a senior, though he is not included in a yearbook photo of the wrestling team.

Donaghy was on the baseball and basketball teams all four years.