CLEVELAND, Ohio — FBI agents failed to read Miranda warnings to a former team doctor of the Pittsburgh Steelers prior to an interrogation involving a steroid investigation, the doctor's lawyer says.

Adrian Roe, the attorney for Dr. Richard Rydze, 63, says agents should have made Rydze aware of his rights during the hour-long interview at his medical office March 29, 2011. Roe, in documents filed last week in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, said the questioning resulted in a 16-page report. He is seeking to have those statements and any evidence obtained from them suppressed.

Roe also claimed a search warrant affidavit used that day "was materially misleading and demonstrated a reckless disregard for the truth,'' and he said the items seized also should be thrown out. The affidavit is sealed.

The documents mark the first signs of Rydze's defense to a 185-count indictment that charges him with illegally distributing anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and painkillers that a federal grand jury handed down in October.

Federal prosecutors from Cleveland are handling the case because of Rydze's connections to Pittsburgh, where he was a prominent physician who gave physicals to agents in the FBI office. Rydze has denied the allegations, and a trial date has not been set.

Prosecutors are expected to respond in writing to Roe's allegations in the coming weeks.

Rydze served with the Steelers for about 22 years, ending in the summer of 2007, according to ESPN.com. In a 2009 interview, Rydze told ESPN that he prescribed human growth hormone to help patients heal from tendon and ligament injuries. He denied ever giving it to players.

The indictment does not identify the people who received the steroids or growth hormones from Rydze. It accuses Rydze of dispensing steroids from September 2007 through March 2011, as well as prescribing painkillers. Three others charged with Rydze have pleaded guilty.

William Zipf of suburban Pittsburgh was sentenced to 10 years in prison in August on charges related to the purchase of Oxycodone and other drugs. Prosecutors said Rydze prescribed the drugs to Zipf, who requested Rydze put the prescriptions in the names of other people. The charges say the sales took place from March 2007 through January 2012.

William Sadowski, the co-owner of a Pittsburgh pharmacy, was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Prosecutors said Sadowski's pharmacy handled Rydze's prescriptions for the drugs. A nurse who worked with Sadowski, John Gavin, was sentenced to probation.

A fourth man, James Hatzimbes, is accused of conspiring with Rydze in the sale of steroids and other drugs from September 2007 through March 2011. He has denied the allegations, and his case is pending in federal court in Pittsburgh.

Federal prosecutors in Cleveland said in a statement after his arrest that Rydze distributed steroids and human growth hormone "for unauthorized uses such as bodybuilding and athletic performance enhancement.''

Rydze and Hatzimbes would host steroid clinics on Saturdays at Hatzimbes' wellness center, according to prosecutors. Rydze, they said, would frequently and falsely diagnose clients as having hormone imbalances, pituitary deficiency or adrenal insufficiency and then prescribe them steroids and human growth hormone.

Roe, Rydze's attorney, said in documents that the federal agents who searched Rydze's office in March 2011 immediately ushered Rydze into a room in the back of the office and questioned him for an hour. Roe called the interview a "custodial interrogation'' and should have been given his rights prior to the questioning, as Rydze had no opportunity to leave.

Roe is seeking a hearing on the issue. He could not be reached for comment.

Prosecutors are expected to build their case at trial against Rydze based on financial documents, bank statements, records from Sadowski's pharmacy and informants who wore recording devices, according to federal court records.