The disgraced former NBA referee made himself a nice chunk of change, by successfully suing a book publisher. Per the Philly Daily News:
“After 5 rough years that included banishment from the NBA, gambling and wire-fraud convictions for betting on basketball games, and even 2 weeks spent in solitary confinement ‘like Charles Manson’ while serving a 15-month prison term, Donaghy can finally put one in the win column. According to Donaghy and his lawyer, a St. Petersburg jury on Friday awarded Donaghy $1.3 million in his civil suit against Shawna Vercher and her now-defunct company VTi Group, which published Donaghy’s tell-all book about the NBA and its referees.
‘The lady made my life a living hell and basically tortured me through the press by putting fictitious stories out there,’ Donaghy said Sunday. ‘I knew, at some point, my time would come. And my time was Friday.’ The lawsuit stems from a nasty dispute between Donaghy and Vercher. She called the cops, saying he threatened her and book vendors. He said she ripped him off by pocketing nearly $250,000 in revenue from his book, ‘Personal Foul: A First-Person Account of the Scandal that Rocked the NBA.’
Donaghy’s lawyer, Nicholas Mooney, said the jury sided with Donaghy on all counts, including breach of contract, theft, and infliction of emotional distress. Under Florida law, the total award will likely be increased to about $1.65 million, Mooney said. Vercher is also responsible for paying Donaghy’s attorney’s fees.â€
