In papers filed in San Francisco federal court today, prosecutors said Troy Ellerman is willing to accept that sentence after a judge last month rejected the original 24-month maximum sentence as too lenient.

Federal prosecutors did agree to reduce his maximum fine to $60,000 from $250,000.

District Court Judge Jeffrey White, who rejected the earlier deal, still must approve the new agreement when Ellerman returns to court July 12.

Ellerman's attorney Scott Tedmon said he still will argue that his client should be sentenced to 15 months in prison — an argument that didn't persuade the judge last month.

"We are trying to wrap this thing up without a lot of litigation," Tedmon said. "We're trying to give the judge some latitude."

Ellerman already voluntarily gave up his California license to practice law.

He pleaded guilty to allowing a newspaper reporter to see confidential transcripts of grand jury testimony from Bonds, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and other athletes embroiled in the government's steroids investigation. The 44-year-old Ellerman initially blamed federal investigators for leaking the testimony.

Ellerman was a successful Sacramento attorney when Victor Conte, founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, hired him following the raid of the Burlingame nutritional supplements lab, part of the government probe. He also later served as the attorney for BALCO vice president James Valente.

According to the plea agreement, Ellerman had copies of the grand jury testimony being used to prosecute his clients and allowed San Francisco Chronicle reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada to view that testimony.

Fainaru-Wada and fellow Chronicle reporter Lance Williams then published stories in 2004 reporting Giambi and others had admitted using steroids, while Bonds and Sheffield testified they didn't knowingly take the drugs.