HOUSTON -- A jury found former NFL defensive lineman Dexter Manley guilty Wednesday of evidence tampering for attempting to swallow less than a gram of cocaine during a January 2001 drug bust at a Houston motel.

Manley, 43, had said he was innocent. He remains free on $20,000 bail pending his sentencing, scheduled for April 5.

"I'm not going to quibble with the jury's decision," said Manley's attorney, Jonathan Munier. "They made a decision and we are going to live with the decision they made."

Manley could face up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Prosecutor Pat Stayton said Manley was stopped Jan. 10, 2001, because officers watched him leave a hotel room they were about to search. Police said Manley tried to swallow the cocaine as they were attempting to arrest him.

Stayton said Manley was not the subject of the warrant and just happened to be there.

Drugs led to Manley's retirement from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1991 after a second failed drug test. Manley had previously failed a drug test in 1989 while playing for the Washington Redskins. He was suspended from the NFL and the next year joined the Arizona Cardinals.

The defensive end was arrested four times from November 1994 to July 1995 for possessing small quantities of crack cocaine. He later was convicted and served 15 months of a four-year sentence. He was paroled in November 1996.

Manley is a Houston native and starred at Yates High School before attending the Oklahoma State University.