Pensacola, FL -- Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis began his jail sentence Friday, reporting to a federal prison camp in Florida. Lewis was ordered to serve a four-month term for using a cell phone to help set up a drug transaction in June of 2000.

The minimum-security facility holds up to 536 inmates, many of whom are drug offenders.

Lewis was sentenced to four months in prison on January 26 in Atlanta. The sentence issued in federal court matched the terms of the agreement reached with prosecutors in October. That month, Lewis pleaded guilty to federal charges of using a cell phone to help arrange a drug deal.

Under the plea agreement, charges of drug conspiracy and cocaine possession were dropped by prosecutors and Lewis agreed to a term of four months in prison, two months in a halfway house and 500 hours of community service.

Had he been convicted of the conspiracy charge, Lewis could have faced at least 10 years in prison, but would have probably received a shorter sentence under federal guidelines.

Lewis was also suspended for two games without pay this past season and fined an additional two weeks' salary by the league for violating the NFL substance abuse policy. The Ravens ended the campaign with a 9-7 record and failed to qualify for the playoffs.

The NFL's leading rusher in the 2003 season had been accused of trying to help a childhood friend buy cocaine in a deal that turned out to be part of an FBI sting operation in the summer of 2000.

According to prosecutors and the FBI, Lewis was contacted on his cell phone by a "seller" who turned out to be a government informant. Lewis then allegedly took his friend, Angelo Jackson, to a restaurant to set up the cocaine buy.

Jackson and the informant then met several more times over the next several weeks, but Lewis was not part of any of those conversations, according to court papers. No drugs exchanged hands.

Lewis wasn't indicted on the federal drug charges until February of 2004. Meanwhile, Jackson has pleaded guilty to attempting to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and was expected to receive five years in jail.

In 2003, Lewis led the NFL with 2,066 rushing yards, the second-highest single-season total in league history, and also broke the NFL's single-game rushing record with a 295-yard effort against Cleveland on September 14.

This past year, he rushed for 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns on 235 carries.

Lewis was suspended four games by the NFL in November of 2001 for a repeat violation of the league's substance-abuse policy. The suspension did not cause him to miss any games that year because the running back was already out for the season with a torn ACL in his left knee. However, it did cost him $232,941 in salary.

The University of Tennessee product was Baltimore's first-round pick in the 2000 draft (fifth overall) and rushed for 1,364 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie when the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV.