Short answers, pulled from the story.
Tim Donaghy was an NBA referee who bet on professional basketball games, including games he personally officiated, over at least four seasons from 2003-04 through 2006-07. He pleaded guilty on the 15th of August 2007 to two federal charges of conspiracy and was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.
Donaghy claimed he received $30,000 in total. His co-conspirators disputed this: Tommy Martino said Donaghy was paid $120,000 between December 2006 and April 2007 alone, and pro gambler Jimmy Battista claimed he paid Donaghy between $201,000 and $209,000.
The scheme ran across four NBA seasons: 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07. Sports betting analyst R. J. Bell, who analyzed Donaghy's games afterward, concluded it would have taken at least another year before someone working from external data alone could have identified the pattern.
R. J. Bell of Pregame.com found that during the two seasons the NBA investigated, teams in Donaghy's games exceeded expected scoring totals 57 percent of the time, compared to 44 percent in the prior two seasons. Bell calculated the odds of that gap occurring by chance at 1 in 1,000. He also identified 10 consecutive 2007 games where Donaghy worked and the point spread moved at least 1.5 points before tip-off, with the big money winning every time.
Donaghy alleged that referees ignored fouls on injured players in a game widely understood to be Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings, because it was in the NBA's interest to extend the series. In that game, the Lakers shot 27 free throws in the fourth quarter. Federal authorities investigated the claim and found no supporting evidence.
NBA commissioner David Stern revised referee behavioral guidelines at the 2007 Board of Governors' meeting. Changes included moving the public announcement of game referees from 90 minutes before tip-off to the morning of the game, more thorough background checks, increased in-season gambling counseling, and a revised gambling policy that allowed certain non-sports betting while maintaining the prohibition on sports wagering.