In June 2007, the FBI informed the NBA that one of its referees, Tim Donaghy, was the subject of a probe into illegal gambling. Within months, the public knew the broad outlines of a scheme involving Donaghy betting on games he officiated with a co-conspirator, longtime Donaghy acquaintance and professional gambler Jimmy Baba Battista. They were joined in the scandal by a mutual childhood friend, Tommy Martino. By November 2008, each man had pleaded guilty to charges relating to the conspiracy, and was in federal prison. The story was over. Or so it seemed to be. Researched with dozens of interviews, court documents, betting records, referee statistics, and unique access to witness statements and confidential law enforcement files, GAMING THE GAME looks inside the FBI's investigation and beyond to provide the definitive account of the scandal. Jimmy Battista's remarkable decades-long bookmaking and betting career is examined, including and especially his role as architect of the widely publicized scandal. Battista, who - unlike his co-conspirators - never spoke with federal authorities, reveals for the first time the intricate details of the scheme, most of which only he knows.
My PSU bio...
Sean Patrick Griffin, Ph.D., has been Associate Professor in Criminal Justice at Penn State Abington since 2003. He was Assistant Professor of Sociology at Clemson University (South Carolina) from 2000-03. His research areas are organized crime, white-collar crime, labor racketeering, corruption, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and various aspects of policing.
Dr. Griffin is the author of two books on African-American organized crime, including Black Brothers Inc., The Violent Rise and Fall of Philadelphia's Black Mafia (Milo, 2005/07). Black Entertainment Television (BET) based an episode of its popular "American Gangster" series on Black Brothers, Inc., and the book has been optioned to be made into at least one motion picture by Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions for Warner Brothers Studios. Professor Griffin is a consultant on the film(s).
A strong and outspoken advocate of public scholarship, he has developed and implemented coursework regarding securities fraud and enforcement for audiences of professionals (i.e., attorneys and accountants), and is well into the research and writing of a book on stock fraud, expected to be completed in 2012. Dr. Griffin commonly lends his expertise to an assortment of entities and individuals, including but not limited to: local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies (especially in re: organized crime, extortion, narcotics trafficking, tax evasion, and money laundering,); regulatory agencies (especially in re: gaming and stock fraud); social service agencies (especially in re: policing and violence against women); and print, radio, and television outlets throughout the U.S. (primarily in re: organized crime, white-collar crime, and related topics).
Professor Griffin has conducted research in the Netherlands on numerous occasions, focusing on such issues as the international trade in women, transnational organized crime, vice laws and enforcement, and the impact of immigration on the Dutch criminal justice system. He has appeared as an invited panelist for several forums on public policy, is a frequent guest on various local and national radio and television programs, and has been interviewed/featured extensively in print media.
A former Philadelphia Police Officer, Dr. Griffin resides in the city's suburbs with his wife and two children.
