TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was attacked in prison by a fellow inmate who claimed he had ties to the New York mob, a spokesman for Donaghy said Thursday.

The attacker hit Donaghy in the right knee with a stick or club in November at a minimum security federal prison camp in Pensacola, said Pat Zaranek of Executive Prison Consultants.

Donaghy, who pleaded guilty in New York to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commence, is serving a 15-month sentence.

‘‘Verbally, there was a comment made that they were going to shoot him in the head and break his knee caps,’’ Zaranek said.

Donaghy is a client of Zaranek’s firm, which advises federal defendants — mostly white collar criminals — on how to cope with prison and make the transition back into society once they are released.