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Victor Conte, who masterminded a operation to supply undetectable banned substances to professional athletes featuring baseball greats Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and track and field star Jones years back, has passed away. His age was 75.

Government Probe and Criminal Cases

The federal government's probe of a separate firm Conte founded, Balco, resulted in the guilty verdicts of Jones, elite sprint cyclist Thomas, and retired NFL player Dana Stubblefield, as well as coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.

Conte's Admissions and Prison Time

Conte, who completed a third of a year in federal prison for dealing steroids, talked publicly about his famous former clients. He appeared on broadcast media to state he had observed decorated Olympian Marion Jones use a syringe with HGH, but consistently avoided incriminating Bonds, the baseball star.

The Mitchell Report

The investigation resulted in the publication titled Game of Shadows. A week after the release of the book in the mid-2000s, MLB commissioner Selig brought on former senate majority leader Mitchell to investigate steroids.

Conte stated he provided steroids referred to as certain undetectable drugs and guided their application to dozens of professional sportspeople, including Jason Giambi, a star player, the Mitchell report said.

Employing PEDs poses a serious threat to the fairness of the sport,” the findings emphasized. “Prevalent consumption by competitors of these compounds unfairly disadvantages the those who refuse to cheat who avoid them and creates doubts about the validity of sporting achievements.”

The report noted the problems didn’t develop overnight. Mitchell claimed everyone involved in professional baseball in the prior two decades – covering leaders, management, the representative body and athletes themselves – shared some responsibility for what he labeled “the steroids era”.

How It Began

The official probe into Balco started when a tax agent searching the company’s trash. He eventually confessed to two of the multiple accusations filed against him in 2005 prior to court proceedings. Six of the defendants sentenced were caught lying to grand jurors.

Associated Convictions

The athlete's coach Greg Anderson, admitted guilt to steroid distribution charges linked to his Balco connections. Anderson was sentenced to three months in incarceration and an equal period of restricted movement.

The Slugger's Case

Bonds was charged with deceiving a grand jury about obtaining performance-enhancing drugs and went on trial in that year. Prosecutors dropped his case down the line when the government decided not to appeal an overturned ruling to the federal apex court.

A multiple MVP winner and frequent All-Star, Bonds concluded his playing days after the 2007 campaign with 762 homers, exceeding the milestone of Aaron's total that Aaron achieved from the 1950s to 1970s. He claimed he did not consciously consuming performance-enhancing drugs but has failed to gain entry to the sport's hall of honor.

Later Years

Conte stated in an interview in a 2010 discussion that “competitors do cheat to win, but the government agents and prosecutors engage in misconduct as well.” He also questioned whether the conclusions in such legal cases justified the effort.

After serving his sentence, he got back in business in the late 2000s by rebooting a nutritional supplements business he had started two decades earlier called Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning or SNAC System. He located it in the very same place that once housed his former lab in Burlingame.

Unapologetic Views

The controversial figure remained defiant about his major involvement in distributing designer steroids to top sports stars. He maintained he simply helped “balance the odds” in a sports environment full of doping athletes.

Expert Opinions

To an expert, a former participant of the global anti-doping body, Conte could be compared to distributing cocaine or heroin. “This involves blatant drug dealing. This refers to drug consumption in defiance of legal codes,” he stated in 2007. “This isn't charity and this is not some do-gooding. It's illegal sales.”