PROVIDENCE — A California man nabbed in an international human growth hormone distribution network was sentenced yesterday to 15 months of community and home confinement.

Chief U.S. District Judge Mary M. Lisi, after listening to an impassioned defense argument, agreed to spare Jeffrey Rock a term in a federal prison and, instead, opted to send him to a community confinement facility near his home in Camarillo, Calif. He will spend nine months there and then serve the remaining six months of his sentence at home with an electronic monitoring device attached to his ankle.

Until the sentence was imposed, it appeared that Lisi might send Rock to prison. She seemed deeply disturbed that he had peddled human growth hormone to anyone who was willing to pay for it. She said it could be a 15-year-old boy who had dreams of being Barry Bonds, the all-time leader in major league home runs, or the “muscle head” at the local gym.

“You were engaged in a very nasty and dangerous business,” she said. “You didn’t know who you were selling it to, and frankly, you didn’t care. The money was too good.”

Last September, the authorities announced the 16-count indictment against Lei Jin, founder and chief executive officer of Genescience, along with Rock and two other men on federal charges of international smuggling of human growth hormone, or HGH.

Jin has yet to be captured. In May, Rock pleaded guilty in Providence to federal charges of smuggling, drug distribution and money laundering. He admitted that he used Web sites and e-mail to distribute HGH that Genescience manufactured in China.

Rock’s lawyer, Leonard O’Brien, of Providence, in seeking an alternative sentence, said that, upon his arrest, his client immediately confessed to his participation in the human growth hormone ring and was willing to accept punishment for his actions.

“This man has shown an extraordinary sense of responsibility,” he said.

Rock has forfeited about $125,000 from two bank accounts and he will pay large penalties to the Internal Revenue Service for failing to declare profits from the illegal sales of the drugs.

Rock, who broke down and cried at one point, repeatedly told the court that he regretted his involvement in the drug ring and getting caught up in “a fast seductive life.” He said that he has devoted his life to youth groups at his local church and he works for a nonprofit company that builds low-income housing in California.

He said that since his arrest he has chosen to “run to God,” instead of running from him and pursuing a more sinful lifestyle.

Lisi also ordered him to serve five years of probation and complete 200 hours of community service each year, or a total of 1,000 hours over the length of his sentence.

bmalinow@projo.com