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The man behind the scheme, who devised a plan to supply stealthy performance-enhancing drugs to top competitors such as baseball greats Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and Olympic track champion Marion Jones in the past, has died. He reached 75 years.

Government Probe and Convictions

An official investigation into a separate firm established by Conte, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco), resulted in the criminal findings of Jones, top track cyclist Tammy Thomas, and retired NFL player Stubblefield, as well as trainers, suppliers, chemists, attorneys, and coaches.

Public Statements and Prison Time

Conte, who spent a third of a year in a penitentiary for dealing steroids, spoke openly about his famous former clients. He appeared on television to assert he had observed decorated Olympian Jones use a syringe with HGH, but never directly implicating Barry Bonds, the baseball star.

Sport's Official Review

This probe inspired the publication titled Game of Shadows. Just days following the release of the book in 2006, MLB commissioner Selig appointed ex-senator George Mitchell to look into PED use.

He revealed he distributed steroids known as “the cream” and “the clear” and coached on their use to many professional sportspeople, including Giambi, a multiple-time All-Star, the Mitchell report said.

Using banned drugs poses a serious threat to the integrity of the game,” the findings emphasized. “Prevalent consumption by athletes of such substances puts at a disadvantage the clean players who avoid them and raises questions about the legitimacy of baseball records.”

Mitchell indicated the problems were not sudden. Mitchell claimed everyone involved in professional baseball in the preceding decades – including leaders, team executives, the union and players – were partly accountable for what he labeled the PED epoch.

Investigation Origins

The official probe into Balco was initiated by a revenue officer searching the corporate garbage. The defendant ultimately admitted guilt to a couple of the 42 charges he faced in the mid-2000s before a trial. Half a dozen of the individuals found guilty were caught lying to federal investigators.

Associated Convictions

His fitness instructor Greg Anderson, pleaded guilty to illegal substance sales linked to his Balco connections. Anderson was sentenced to three months in incarceration and three months of home confinement.

The Slugger's Case

The baseball legend was charged with lying to a grand jury about using performance-enhancing drugs and faced a trial in that year. The case was dismissed his case down the line when the government decided not to challenge an reversed conviction to the supreme court.

A decorated player and frequent All-Star, Bonds retired after the 2007 season with 762 homers, breaking the mark of Aaron's total that Hank Aaron achieved from his career. Bonds denied consciously consuming performance-enhancing drugs but has never been elected to the sport's hall of honor.

After Incarceration

Conte stated in an interview in a 2010 discussion that “competitors do cheat to triumph, but the officials and lawyers also bend the rules.” He doubted whether the outcomes in these trials justified the effort.

After serving his sentence, he returned to work in 2007 by rebooting a health products venture he had started years before called Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning or SNAC System. He set up shop in the same building that once housed his former lab in Burlingame.

Unapologetic Views

Conte continued to justify about his key part in doling out tailored drugs to top sports stars. He argued he simply helped “balance the odds” in a world already rife with rule-breakers.

Outside Views

To an expert, a former participant of the WADA, Conte could be compared to distributing hard drugs. “It concerns totally illegal drug trafficking. It's about drug consumption in breach of national statutes,” he stated in the past. “This isn't charity and not a benevolent act. It's trafficking.”