''We're going to be sending information to vet those names, see if they are who they say they are,'' Albany County District Attorney David Soares first told the New York Daily News in Wednesday's editions.

Albany authorities declined to disclose Wednesday how many athletes have come up in the probe and which sports leagues will get letters.

''The DA will assess those issues after the research has been completed and the information is available for him to look at comprehensively,'' said Soares spokeswoman Heather Orth.

So far, 20 people have been indicted, and several Florida clinics were raided. They allegedly were part of a scheme to provide prescriptions over the Internet to clients who never actually met with the prescribing physicians. A similar federal prosecution also is under way in Rhode Island.

Athletes linked to the scandal, in various reports, are baseball's Gary Matthews Jr., Jose Canseco, John Rocker, Jerry Hairston Jr., David Bell and Darren Holmes, former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, Pittsburgh Steelers doctor Richard Rydze, 1996 Olympic wrestling gold medalist Kurt Angle and bodybuilder Victor Martinez.

NFL and baseball officials went to Albany last week to meet with Soares and other investigators.

''We have asked the DA's office for any information that is relevant to the NFL within the constraints of the investigation,'' NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.

Baseball spokesman Rich Levin said the league has not been contacted yet. ''All we know is what we read in the paper,'' he said.

Soares has said repeatedly he's targeting distributors supplying illicit drugs and physicians writing prescriptions for patients they've never seen, not customers.