"I've dealt with a lot of felons and I think he is sincerely repentant and contrite,'' said Pat Berdan, of Executive Prison Consultants, a firm that has been assisting Donaghy in prison.

"I see no intent, not even a hint of it, of revenge or retaliation or attempting to put the NBA in their place or anything like that,'' Berdan said. "He is quite remorseful about the whole thing.''

The Villanova grad served the bulk of his sentence at a minimum-security prison camp in Pensacola, Fla., where he suffered a knee injury when, he said, a man who claimed to have mob ties assaulted him.

Donaghy was transferred to a halfway house in June, but was sent to a county prison in August for a federal rule violation. His attorney, John Lauro, said Donaghy believed that he had permission to go to a health club to work on his knee, but federal authorities said it was an unauthorized trip and locked him up.

Lauro said the last few months have been tough on the ex-ref, who still needs knee surgery.

"County prison is the last place in the prison system that anybody would want to be," he said.

Berdan said Donaghy is looking forward to reuniting with his four children and hopes to land a job at a sales or marketing firm while continuing to seek a publisher for his tell-all book, "Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA."

In the book, which has been rejected by Random House, Donaghy accuses the league and certain referees of favoring star players and making calls to extend playoff series, according to lengthy excerpts published at Deadspin.com, a sports Web site.

The NBA, which previously has denied similar allegations that Donaghy has made through his lawyer in court filings, said last week that it would review the new allegations contained in his book.

Yesterday, Lauro said that he would "demand'' that Deadspin cease publishing book excerpts.

"We're going to take steps to stop that from happening. It's his property and it's being used improperly now, so the first step is to get this to stop," Lauro said, declining to specify whether that would include a lawsuit.

Deadspin's editor, A.J. Daulerio, declined to comment last night.

Berdan said Donaghy is looking for a new book publisher, but no deal is imminent.

"We have not landed anyone that has taken the ball and is going to run with it," Berdan said.