Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rich Tocchet won't serve any jail time for his role in an illegal sports gambling ring.
The former National Hockey League forward was sentenced to two years probation in a Mount Holly, N.J., courtroom Friday.
Former NHL forward Rick Tocchet talks to his lawyer, Kevin Marino, in a Mount Holly, N.J., courtroom Friday.
(Mel Evans/Associated Press)
Tocchet could have received up to five years in state prison for conspiracy and promoting gambling, charges to which he pleaded guilty in May.
Before being sentenced, Tocchet told Burlington County Superior Court Judge Thomas S. Smith: "I'm sorry to the court, my family and friends I was involved in this."
Tocchet, 43, partnered with former New Jersey state trooper James Harney and another man, James Ulmer, in a sports betting venture they ran for five years.
Harney, who pleaded guilty on Aug. 3, 2006, was sentenced two weeks ago to five years in jail. He could be eligible for parole in about a year.
Ulmer will be sentenced Aug. 24, while Tocchet remains on indefinite job leave with the Coyotes.
The ring became one of the biggest stories in hockey when the men were charged in February 2006 because authorities alleged several of the bettors were people connected to the game.
But the only name revealed among them was Janet Jones, the wife of former NHL star and current Coyotes part-owner and coach Wayne Gretzky. Authorities said early on that neither she nor other bettors would be charged.
In the investigation that followed, authorities and hockey officials have said there is no evidence there was any betting on hockey.
But the betting was heavy on other sports. In the 40 days that led up to the charges, the ring handled $1.7 million US in bets, including U.S. college football bowl games and the Super Bowl.
The business was lucrative for Harney while it lasted. When he was arrested, police took 32 watches and nine televisions from his home, and he forfeited his home, his interest in his wife's home and cash.
Harney met Tocchet in the 1990s when the latter was playing for the Philadelphia Flyers and Harney tended bar at a hotel frequented by athletes. After retiring in 2002, Tocchet became Gretzky's top assistant coach with the Coyotes.
With files from the Associated PressRelated
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