MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. -- A former police officer who admitted running a sports betting ring with retired ice hockey All-Star Rick Tocchet was sentenced Friday to five years in prison.
Under a plea agreement he struck with prosecutors a year ago, James Harney could have been sentenced to up to seven years in prison. Tocchet, an assistant coach with the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes, also has pleaded guilty and faces sentencing this month.
Sports gambling businesses are illegal in much of the United States outside the state of Nevada.
Harney, a former officer with the New Jersey State Police who pleaded guilty to conspiracy, promoting gambling and official misconduct, received a relatively light sentence because he cooperated with authorities. Under sentencing rules, he could be eligible for parole in about a year.
In his plea deal, Harney, 41, said he and Tocchet ran the ring as equal partners for five years.
A third man, James Ulmer, also pleaded guilty and is due for sentencing this month. He and Tocchet could avoid prison under the terms of their plea deals.
The ring became one of the biggest stories in ice hockey when the men were charged in February 2006 because authorities said several of the bettors were people connected to the game. The only name that was ever revealed was actress Janet Jones Gretzky, the wife of North American Ice Hockey Hall of Fame member Wayne Gretzky, coach and part owner of the Coyotes.
State authorities said early on that neither she nor other bettors would be charged. Placing bets is not illegal in the state of New Jersey.
In the 40 days that led up to the charges, the ring handled $1.7 million in bets, including college football bowl games and the Super Bowl. But authorities and hockey officials have said there's no evidence that there was any betting on hockey.
After retiring as a player in 2002, Tocchet became Gretzky's top assistant coach with the Coyotes. He was placed on indefinite leave from his job after he was charged.
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