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Victor Conte, who masterminded a system to supply hard-to-detect banned substances to elite sports stars including MLB legends Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and Olympic track champion Jones in the past, has passed away. He was 75.

Federal Investigation and Legal Outcomes

The federal government's inquiry regarding a separate firm established by Conte, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco), culminated in the convictions of Marion Jones, top track cyclist Tammy Thomas, and retired NFL player Stubblefield, along with various support personnel and professionals.

Public Statements and Prison Time

The Balco founder, who spent four months in a federal facility for illegal drug sales, talked publicly about his famous former clients. He was featured on broadcast media to claim he had witnessed triple Olympic champion Marion Jones self-administer with human growth hormones, but consistently avoided incriminating Barry Bonds, the baseball star.

The Mitchell Report

The investigation inspired the publication titled Game of Shadows. A week after the release of the book in that year, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig appointed former senate majority leader Mitchell to examine doping in baseball.

Conte stated he sold steroids referred to as two specific substances and coached on their use to numerous elite athletes, including Jason Giambi, a multiple-time All-Star, according to the report.

Employing performance-enhancing substances represents a major risk to the honesty of the competition,” the Mitchell report concluded. “Broad usage by players of these compounds puts at a disadvantage the clean players who refuse to use them and creates doubts about the accuracy of baseball records.”

Mitchell indicated the issues didn’t develop overnight. Mitchell claimed each participant in professional baseball in the prior two decades – encompassing leaders, club officials, the players’ association and athletes themselves – bore partial blame for what he termed “the steroids era”.

Investigation Origins

The government's case into the company was initiated by a IRS investigator digging through the company’s trash. The defendant ultimately admitted guilt to a couple of the 42 charges filed against him in the mid-2000s before a trial. Six of the defendants sentenced were caught lying to the court.

Associated Convictions

His fitness instructor Greg Anderson, admitted guilt to illegal substance sales linked to his ties to the lab. He received a sentence to three months in incarceration and the same duration of restricted movement.

The Slugger's Case

The home run king was accused of providing false statements to a federal jury about receiving banned substances and went on trial in 2011. Prosecutors dropped the case four years later when the government decided not to challenge an overturned obstruction of justice conviction to the federal apex court.

A decorated player and 14-time All-Star outfielder, Bonds retired after the 2007 campaign with 762 home runs, surpassing the mark of Aaron's total that Hank Aaron set from 1954-76. Bonds denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs but has not been voted to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Later Years

Conte stated in an interview in a 2010 interview that “yes, athletes cheat to succeed, but the officials and lawyers also bend the rules.” He also questioned whether the outcomes in such proceedings were worth the resources.

After serving his sentence, he returned to work in the late 2000s by reviving a nutritional supplements business he had launched two decades earlier called SNAC System. He set up shop in the very same place that previously contained his former lab in Burlingame, California.

Unapologetic Views

Conte stayed unrepentant about his major involvement in distributing custom PEDs to professional competitors. He argued he simply helped “even the competition” in a world already rife with rule-breakers.

Expert Opinions

To an expert, a at the time a member of the WADA, Conte was essentially distributing illegal narcotics. “You are talking about totally illegal drug trafficking. This refers to substance use in defiance of legal codes,” he stated in 2007. “It's not a good deed and it's not altruistic. This is drug dealing.”