A grand jury in San Francisco has indicted baseball slugger Barry Bonds on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

The indictment follows a four-year federal probe into whether Bonds lied to the grand jury looking into steroid abuse by athletes.

Just three months ago, Bonds became major league baseball's home run king by passing Hank Aaron. Bonds and the San Francisco Giants split after the season.

An attorney for Barry Bonds says he's surprised the baseball slugger has been indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

Attorney John Burris says there has been an effort to get Bonds for a long time.

In a related matter, a federal judge has ordered that Anderson be released from prison. Anderson has spent most of the last year behind bars for refusing to testify against Bonds, his longtime friend.