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Victor Conte, who masterminded a system to supply hard-to-detect performance-enhancing drugs to top competitors including MLB legends Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and track and field star Jones decades ago, has died. He reached 75 years.

Government Probe and Criminal Cases

An official investigation into a separate firm established by Conte, the Bay Area lab, culminated in the criminal findings of Jones, elite sprint cyclist Thomas, and ex-pro football defender Stubblefield, along with coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.

Open Discussions and Sentencing

The Balco founder, who completed several months in a penitentiary for steroid distribution, spoke openly about his famous former clients. He was featured on TV to assert he had seen triple Olympic champion Jones use a syringe with growth hormones, but consistently avoided implicating Bonds, the Giants power hitter.

Baseball's Investigation

This probe led to the volume Game of Shadows. Just days following the book's publication in that year, the sport's chief Selig appointed political figure Mitchell to examine doping in baseball.

He admitted he sold steroids referred to as two specific substances and guided their use to dozens of professional sportspeople, including Giambi, a star player, according to the report.

Employing banned drugs represents a major risk to the honesty of the competition,” the report stated. “Widespread use by players of such substances puts at a disadvantage the clean players who avoid them and creates doubts about the accuracy of sporting achievements.”

The report noted the issues took time to emerge. He said each participant in professional baseball in the preceding decades – covering leaders, team executives, the players’ association and athletes themselves – shared some responsibility for what he called the doping period.

How It Began

The government's case into the laboratory started when a revenue officer searching the business refuse. He ended up pleading guilty to a couple of the numerous counts against him in 2005 prior to court proceedings. Several of the individuals found guilty were caught lying to the court.

Associated Convictions

Bonds’ personal trainer Greg Anderson, pleaded guilty to drug dealing counts arising from his involvement with Balco. He received a sentence to a quarter year in jail and the same duration of restricted movement.

Bonds' Legal Battles

The home run king was accused of providing false statements to a grand jury about receiving banned substances and stood trial in that year. The government abandoned the case four years later when the government decided not to contest an overturned ruling to the highest court.

A seven-time National League MVP and frequent All-Star, Bonds ended his career after the 2007 season with 762 home runs, breaking the mark of 755 that Aaron achieved from his career. The athlete refuted consciously consuming banned substances but has not been voted to the Hall of Fame.

After Incarceration

The former convict remarked to the press in a 2010 discussion that “competitors do cheat to win, but the federal representatives cheat to win, too.” He wondered whether the outcomes in such proceedings were worth the resources.

After serving his sentence, Conte resumed operations in the late 2000s by reviving a nutritional supplements business he had founded previously called his supplements brand. He set up shop in the very same place that was home to his former lab in Burlingame, California.

Continued Justification

Conte remained defiant about his central role in doling out custom PEDs to professional competitors. He maintained he simply helped “even the competition” in a sports environment full of cheaters.

Critical Perspectives

To an expert, a then-member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Conte may as well have been pushing cocaine or heroin. “You are talking about unlawful substance distribution. You are talking about drug consumption in violation of federal law,” Wadler said in the past. “This isn't charity and it's not altruistic. It's illegal sales.”