Henry and Susan Samueli leave U.S. district court June 23 in Santa Ana, Calif. (Nick Ut/Associated Press)

A U.S. federal judge rejected a plea bargain Monday that requested probation rather than prison for the role played by Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli in a stock options scandal.

The agreement called for five years probation, $12 million US in payments to the U.S. Treasury and a $250,000 US fine.

District Court Judge Cormac Carney wrote in his ruling — handed down Monday in Santa Ana, Calif. — that "the court cannot accept a plea agreement that gives the impression that justice is for sale."

Both Samueli and prosecutors promptly requested more time to either rework the agreement or let him to withdraw from it, to which Carney booked a hearing for Sept. 29.

Samueli pleaded guilty June 23 to lying to Securities and Exchange Commission investigators looking into illegal backdating by Broadcom Corp., the company he co-founded with Henry Nicholas in 1991.

Backdating is the retroactive setting of a stock option's exercise price to a low point in its value, thus boosting the profits when shares are sold.

But it is considered illegal if companies fail to disclose the action, because it bloats profits and reduces taxes.

Broadcom, a telecommunications chip maker based in Irvine, Calif., was forced to report a $2.2 billion US writedown in profits — the largest corporate writedown in American history — after the backdating was uncovered.

Samueli, 53, was suspended indefinitely by the NHL on June 24, the day after he pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to the SEC.

Nicholas, who was Broadcom's chief executive officer, was indicted on conspiracy, securities fraud and drug charges, as was William Ruehle, Broadcom's former chief financial officer.

With files from the Associated Press