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Victor Conte, who masterminded a plan to distribute stealthy performance-enhancing drugs to top competitors featuring baseball icons Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and track and field star Marion Jones decades ago, has died. He reached 75 years.

Government Probe and Legal Outcomes

The federal government's investigation into an additional venture established by Conte, Balco, led to the convictions of Jones, top track cyclist Tammy Thomas, and retired NFL player Dana Stubblefield, along with coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.

Open Discussions and Sentencing

Conte, who served four months in a federal facility for dealing steroids, spoke openly about his high-profile athletes. He appeared on television to assert he had witnessed decorated Olympian Marion Jones self-administer with human growth hormones, but consistently avoided incriminating Barry Bonds, the San Francisco Giants slugger.

Baseball's Investigation

The federal case resulted in the volume titled Game of Shadows. Shortly after the release of the book in the mid-2000s, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig hired former senate majority leader George Mitchell to examine doping in baseball.

Conte stated he sold steroids known as “the cream” and “the clear” and coached on their usage to dozens of professional sportspeople, including Giambi, a star player, the Mitchell report said.

“The illegal use of performance-enhancing substances represents a major risk to the fairness of the sport,” the Mitchell report concluded. “Widespread use by competitors of such substances puts at a disadvantage the those who refuse to cheat who avoid them and raises questions about the validity of sporting achievements.”

Mitchell indicated the challenges were not sudden. The report emphasized everyone involved in baseball in the prior two decades – covering commissioners, club officials, the players’ association and players – were partly accountable for what he called the doping period.

How It Began

The official probe into the company was initiated by a revenue officer digging through the business refuse. The defendant ended up pleading guilty to a couple of the multiple accusations he faced in 2005 ahead of a court case. Half a dozen of the individuals found guilty were convicted for lying to grand jurors.

Further Legal Actions

His fitness instructor Anderson, admitted guilt to drug dealing counts arising from his involvement with Balco. He received a sentence to a quarter year in jail and three months of home confinement.

His Court Proceedings

The home run king was charged with lying to a grand jury about using banned substances and faced a trial in 2011. The government abandoned his case after several years when the government decided not to contest an overturned ruling to the federal apex court.

A multiple MVP winner and frequent All-Star, he concluded his playing days after the 2007 campaign with a record home run tally, exceeding the mark of that number that Hank Aaron achieved from 1954-76. He claimed he did not consciously consuming performance-enhancing drugs but has never been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

After Incarceration

Conte stated in an interview in a past conversation that “yes, athletes cheat to triumph, but the government agents and prosecutors cheat to win, too.” He also questioned whether the conclusions in such legal cases were worth the resources.

After serving his sentence, he resumed operations in that year by reviving a nutritional supplements business he had founded two decades earlier called Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning or SNAC System. He operated in the same building that was home to the original company in Burlingame, California.

Unapologetic Views

The controversial figure remained defiant about his central role in providing designer steroids to top sports stars. He argued he simply helped “balance the odds” in a sports environment already rife with rule-breakers.

Outside Views

To an expert, a at the time a member of the WADA, Conte may as well have been pushing cocaine or heroin. “This involves totally illegal drug trafficking. This refers to drug consumption in defiance of legal codes,” Wadler said in 2007. “This isn't charity and it's not altruistic. It's illegal sales.”