PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A businessman who sold steroids and human growth hormone to bodybuilders from around the country was sentenced to two years in federal prison Friday by a judge who called him the ringleader of a far-reaching operation.

Daniel McGlone, who was charged in Rhode Island two years ago as part of a bigger multistate probe into the illegal sale of steroids, apologized to his customers and to his family.

“I know that I let people down, your honor, and I know that it will not happen again,” he told U.S. District Judge William Smith.

McGlone has admitted recruiting discredited doctors to write fake prescriptions for hundreds and perhaps thousands of customers, including some in Rhode Island. He attracted clients by advertising his business, which he ran out of his apartment in North Brunswick, N.J., in magazines geared toward bodybuilders.

When customers contacted McGlone, he advised them on which drugs they should take, then forwarded the bogus prescriptions to large pharmacies to be filled.