Now the hard part begins, as the 42-year-old ex-con seeks to rebuild his life, find a new job and begin paying restitution to the NBA for calling in betting tips to two Philadelphia-area gambling buddies while he was working as a referee.

"He's out, and now he's going to have to make some decisions on how he's going to live his life," Donaghy's attorney, John Lauro, said yesterday after his client was released from the Hernando County Jail in Brooksville.

Donaghy, a Delaware County native and Villanova alum, plans to live in the Sarasota area while continuing treatment for his gambling addiction and shopping his book, "Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA," which Random House has rejected.

Landing a publisher for the tell-all memoir, which accuses several NBA referees of misconduct, would generate some much-needed cash for Donaghy. He still is on the hook for his share of the $217,000 in restitution that he and his conspirators, James "Baba" Battista and Thomas Martino, are required to pay the NBA.

A federal judge ordered Donaghy to pay $46,000 himself. Another $149,500 must be paid collectively by the three men.

Battista and Martino, who attended Cardinal O'Hara High with Donaghy in the 1980s and gave him cash in exchange for his basketball picks, pleaded guilty to gambling and wire fraud, respectively.

Executive Prison Consultants, a firm that has been assisting Donaghy, said he plans to pursue a job in sales or marketing.

The firm also said the ex-ref needs knee surgery as a result of an injury suffered last year at a minimum-security prison camp in Pensacola.

Donaghy's father, former NCAA referee Gerry Donaghy, has said that his son was beaten with a metal paint roller by an inmate who was rumored to have New York mob ties.