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The man behind the scheme, who masterminded a plan to distribute hard-to-detect PEDs to professional athletes including baseball greats Giambi and Bonds and Olympic track champion Jones decades ago, is deceased. He was 75.

Federal Investigation and Criminal Cases

The federal government's probe of another company established by Conte, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco), culminated in the convictions of Marion Jones, top track cyclist Tammy Thomas, and former NFL defensive lineman Stubblefield, along with various support personnel and professionals.

Conte's Admissions and Prison Time

The Balco founder, who completed a third of a year in a penitentiary for dealing steroids, talked publicly about his well-known clients. He appeared on TV to assert he had seen decorated Olympian Jones inject herself with human growth hormones, but always refrained from implicating Barry Bonds, the San Francisco Giants slugger.

Baseball's Investigation

The investigation led to the publication Game of Shadows. A week after the book's publication in that year, baseball Commissioner Selig brought on political figure Mitchell to investigate steroids.

He revealed he distributed steroids referred to as certain undetectable drugs and guided their use to dozens of elite athletes, such as Jason Giambi, a five-time major league All-Star, according to the report.

Using banned drugs is a significant danger to the integrity of the competition,” the Mitchell report concluded. “Broad usage by competitors of such substances harms the honest athletes who avoid them and raises questions about the validity of baseball records.”

The report noted the challenges were not sudden. He said everyone involved in professional baseball in the previous twenty years – encompassing commissioners, team executives, the union and players – were partly accountable for what he labeled “the steroids era”.

Case Inception

The federal investigation into Balco began with a tax agent digging through the corporate garbage. Conte eventually confessed to a pair of the multiple accusations against him in that year ahead of a court case. Several of the individuals found guilty were convicted for misleading grand jurors.

Related Cases

Bonds’ personal trainer Anderson, confessed to illegal substance sales stemming from his involvement with Balco. Anderson was sentenced to 90 days in incarceration and three months of home confinement.

Bonds' Legal Battles

The home run king was charged with providing false statements to a investigative body about using performance-enhancing drugs and faced a trial in 2011. The government abandoned his case four years later when the authorities chose not to challenge an overturned ruling to the federal apex court.

A seven-time National League MVP and 14-time All-Star outfielder, Bonds ended his career after the that season with 762 homers, exceeding the record of Aaron's total that Hank Aaron established from his career. Bonds denied knowingly using 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 interview that “yes, athletes cheat to succeed, but the government agents and prosecutors also bend the rules.” He also questioned whether the results in such legal cases merited the work.

Following his prison term, Conte returned to work in that year by resuscitating a health products venture he had founded previously called SNAC System. He set up shop in the same building that was home to his former lab in Burlingame.

Continued Justification

Conte stayed unrepentant about his central role in distributing designer steroids to professional competitors. He maintained he simply helped “level the playing field” in a sports environment full of cheaters.

Outside Views

To a WADA member, a at the time a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, he was essentially selling illegal narcotics. “It concerns blatant drug dealing. It's about substance use in defiance of legal codes,” the doctor remarked in 2007. “This isn't charity and not a benevolent act. This is drug dealing.”