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Victor Conte, who masterminded a operation to provide undetectable banned substances to top competitors featuring baseball greats Giambi and Bonds and Olympic track champion Jones years back, has died. He was 75.

Official Inquiry and Convictions

An official probe of another company established by Conte, the Bay Area lab, resulted in the criminal findings of Marion Jones, competitive biker Thomas, and ex-pro football defender Stubblefield, along with trainers, suppliers, chemists, attorneys, and coaches.

Public Statements and Prison Time

He, who spent four months in federal prison for illegal drug sales, discussed frankly about his high-profile athletes. He went on TV to state he had seen three-time Olympic medalist Marion Jones use a syringe with growth hormones, but always refrained from incriminating Barry Bonds, the Giants power hitter.

Sport's Official Review

The investigation led to the volume titled Game of Shadows. Just days following the release of the book in the mid-2000s, MLB commissioner Selig brought on political figure George Mitchell to investigate steroids.

He revealed he distributed steroids called two specific substances and coached on their application to many elite athletes, including Giambi, a multiple-time All-Star, as per the investigation.

Employing PEDs is a significant danger to the fairness of the competition,” the Mitchell report concluded. “Prevalent consumption by athletes of these drugs unfairly disadvantages the honest athletes who refuse to use them and leads to skepticism about the accuracy of baseball records.”

Mitchell indicated the problems took time to emerge. The report emphasized each participant in the sport in the previous twenty years – encompassing leaders, team executives, the players’ association and athletes themselves – shared some responsibility for what he termed the PED epoch.

Case Inception

The federal investigation into the company began with a revenue officer examining the corporate garbage. He ultimately admitted guilt to a pair of the multiple accusations filed against him in that year prior to court proceedings. Half a dozen of the 11 convicted people were ensnared for lying to grand jurors.

Associated Convictions

His fitness instructor Greg Anderson, confessed to illegal substance sales linked to his involvement with Balco. The court gave him to 90 days in prison and the same duration of home confinement.

His Court Proceedings

Bonds was indicted for providing false statements to a investigative body about receiving PEDs and faced a trial in 2011. The case was dismissed his case four years later when the prosecutors opted not to contest an overturned ruling to the highest court.

A seven-time National League MVP and frequent All-Star, Bonds concluded his playing days after the 2007 campaign with 762 homers, surpassing the record of that number that Aaron achieved from 1954-76. The athlete refuted consciously consuming banned substances but has failed to gain entry to the sport's hall of honor.

Conte's Post-Prison Life

He stated in an interview in a 2010 discussion that “yes, athletes cheat to succeed, but the officials and lawyers cheat to win, too.” He wondered whether the conclusions in such proceedings were worth the resources.

Post-incarceration, Conte got back in business in that year by reviving a supplements company he had launched previously called Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning or SNAC System. He set up shop in the very same place that was home to the original company in Burlingame, California.

Unapologetic Views

He stayed unrepentant about his major involvement in providing tailored drugs to top sports stars. He argued he simply helped “level the playing field” in a world teeming with doping athletes.

Outside Views

To an expert, a then-member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, he may as well have been selling cocaine or heroin. “It concerns totally illegal drug trafficking. You are talking about using drugs in breach of national statutes,” Wadler said in 2007. “This isn't charity and this is not some do-gooding. This is drug dealing.”