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Victor Conte, who devised a system to distribute undetectable PEDs to top competitors such as baseball greats Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and track and field star Marion Jones decades ago, has died. His age was 75.

Government Probe and Criminal Cases

The federal government's inquiry regarding an additional venture set up by him, the Bay Area lab, resulted in the criminal findings of Jones, top track cyclist Tammy Thomas, and former NFL defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield, as well as various support personnel and professionals.

Conte's Admissions and Legal Consequences

The Balco founder, who spent several months in federal prison for steroid distribution, spoke openly about his well-known clients. He appeared on television to claim he had seen decorated Olympian Marion Jones self-administer with HGH, but always refrained from implicating Bonds, the Giants power hitter.

Sport's Official Review

The federal case inspired the volume Game of Shadows. Shortly after the release of the book in 2006, the sport's chief Bud Selig hired political figure Mitchell to look into PED use.

He revealed he distributed steroids known as “the cream” and “the clear” and advised on their use to many elite athletes, such as Jason Giambi, a five-time major league All-Star, as per the investigation.

“The illegal use of performance-enhancing substances represents a major risk to the honesty of the sport,” the report stated. “Prevalent consumption by players of these drugs puts at a disadvantage the clean players who avoid them and creates doubts about the accuracy of sporting achievements.”

The report noted the issues were not sudden. He said everyone involved in baseball in the prior two decades – covering leaders, management, the players’ association and players – were partly accountable for what he labeled the doping period.

How It Began

The official probe into Balco began with a tax agent searching the corporate garbage. Conte ultimately admitted guilt to a pair of the numerous counts against him in that year ahead of a court case. Several of the 11 convicted people were convicted for lying to grand jurors.

Further Legal Actions

The athlete's coach Greg Anderson, confessed to illegal substance sales linked to his ties to the lab. He received a sentence to three months in incarceration and an equal period of home confinement.

The Slugger's Case

Bonds was indicted for deceiving a investigative body about obtaining banned substances and stood trial in the early 2010s. The government abandoned his case after several years when the prosecutors opted not to challenge an overturned ruling to the federal apex court.

A multiple MVP winner and 14-time All-Star outfielder, Bonds concluded his playing days after the 2007 season with 762 home runs, breaking the record of that number that Hank Aaron set from 1954-76. He claimed he did not intentionally taking banned substances but has failed to gain entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

After Incarceration

The former convict remarked to the press in a past conversation that “yes, athletes cheat to succeed, but the federal representatives engage in misconduct as well.” He also questioned whether the results in these trials merited the work.

After serving his sentence, Conte got back in business in that year by resuscitating a nutritional supplements business he had founded years before called Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning or SNAC System. He set up shop in the same building that once housed Balco in Burlingame, California.

Continued Justification

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

Critical Perspectives

To a WADA member, a at the time a member of the global anti-doping body, he could be compared to selling illegal narcotics. “This involves totally illegal drug trafficking. You are talking about substance use in defiance of legal codes,” the doctor remarked in the past. “It's not a good deed and not a benevolent act. It's trafficking.”