SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has sentenced former National Football League player Dana Stubblefield to two years probation for lying to sports-doping investigators about his steroid use.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston cited Stubblefield's later cooperation with the drug probe in declining to sentence him to three months home confinement, as recommended by federal probation officials. He turned over the names of players, agents and trainers he suspected of drug use to federal investigators and NFL officials.

Stubblefield admitted that three days after the NFL informed him he had tested positive for steroids, he denied taking them when interviewed by agents who raided the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.

Stubblefield played on the defensive line for three teams from 1993-03.