Former 49er Sentenced in BALCO Case

Former San Francisco 49er defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield was sentenced in federal court to two years of probation but no prison time  for lying to investigators about his use of steroids.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston accepted prosecutors' recommendation that Stubblefield, 38, of San Jose, receive the no-custody  sentence because he cooperated in the government's sports drugs probe after pleading guilty last year.

Prosecutor Jeff Nedrow said at the sentencing in Illston's Federal Building courtroom in San Francisco that Stubblefield took responsibility for  his offense and "has cooperated fully."

Stubblefield pleaded guilty before Illston on Jan. 18, 2008, to making a false statement to a federal agent in 2003 when he denied receiving  the steroid THG, also known as "the clear," and a blood hormone, EPO, from  the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO.

When asked by the judge whether he wished to make a statement before being sentenced, Stubblefield declined.

Illston also ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine.

Stubblefield played for the 49ers from 1993 to 1997 and 2001 to 2002, for the Washington Redskins from 1998 to 2000 and for the Oakland  Raiders in 2003. He is now an assistant football coach at Valley Christian  High School in San Jose.

He is one of 11 people who were charged either with distributing performance-enhancing drugs or with lying to investigators or a grand jury in connection with the government's BALCO probe.

Ten have pleaded guilty or been convicted of various charges.

The remaining defendant, baseball home-run champion and former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, has pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to a grand jury in 2003 and is due to go on trial in Illston's court on  March 2.

Bonds faces 10 counts of false statements and one count of obstructing justice before the grand jury on Dec. 4, 2003.

Five of the BALCO defendants, including Stubblefield and Bonds, have been sports figures accused of lying. The other six were BALCO officials, a chemist and others accused of distributing drugs.

The three other sports figures were cyclist Tammy Thomas and track coach Trevor Graham and former Olympic track star Marion Jones.

Thomas and Graham were convicted in jury trials in Illston's court and sentenced by her last year to terms of home confinement and probation for  lying during the investigation.

Jones pleaded guilty in federal court in New York to lying to agents about receiving THG from Graham and was sentenced to six months in  prison. The case against Jones was initiated in San Francisco but was later  transferred to New York to be combined with a separate check fraud case.

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