Former National Football League defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield has pleaded guilty to lying to U.S. government agents investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative - or BALCO - steroid case in San Francisco.
Stubblefield is a three-time Pro Bowl player who spent seven seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, three years with Washington, and then finished his career in Oakland.
He pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to an Internal Revenue Service agent when he denied using and receiving performance-enhancing drugs from BALCO founder Victor Conte.
The 37-year-old former defensive lineman was released on bail. A plea deal calls for him to serve from zero to six months in jail. Earlier at an arraignment, Stubblefield had pleaded not guilty to the charges. He withdrew the not guilty plea at a second hearing.
Stubblefield is the latest in a series of high-profile athletes implicated in the BALCO case. Earlier this month, former sprint star Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in prison for lying to federal agents about her steroid use. Major League Baseball home run king Barry Bonds faces perjury and obstruction of justice charges for telling a grand jury investigating the same case that he did not take drugs.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP.
