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Victor Conte, who engineered a operation to supply undetectable performance-enhancing drugs to top competitors including baseball icons Giambi and Bonds and sprinting gold medalist Jones in the past, has passed away. He reached 75 years.

Official Inquiry and Criminal Cases

A national investigation into another company set up by him, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco), led to the convictions of Jones, top track cyclist Tammy Thomas, and ex-pro football defender Stubblefield, as well as coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.

Open Discussions and Prison Time

He, who served several months in federal prison for illegal drug sales, spoke openly about his famous former clients. He went on television to claim he had observed three-time Olympic medalist Jones inject herself with HGH, but consistently avoided pointing the finger at Barry Bonds, the baseball star.

The Mitchell Report

The investigation resulted in the book Game of Shadows. A week after the publication date in 2006, MLB commissioner Bud Selig hired former senate majority leader Mitchell to look into PED use.

He revealed he provided steroids called certain undetectable drugs and coached on their use to many elite athletes, like Jason Giambi, a star player, according to the report.

Employing banned drugs is a significant danger to the integrity of the game,” the report stated. “Broad usage by athletes of these compounds puts at a disadvantage the honest athletes who decline to take them and creates doubts about the legitimacy of sporting achievements.”

Mitchell indicated the challenges didn’t develop overnight. He said all parties in the sport in the prior two decades – encompassing commissioners, team executives, the union and athletes themselves – were partly accountable for what he called “the steroids era”.

How It Began

The official probe into Balco started when a revenue officer digging through the business refuse. He ended up pleading guilty to two of the 42 charges filed against him in the mid-2000s before a trial. Six of the individuals found guilty were convicted for lying to grand jurors.

Further Legal Actions

His fitness instructor Anderson, admitted guilt to steroid distribution charges arising from his involvement with Balco. He received a sentence to a quarter year in incarceration and three months of restricted movement.

Bonds' Legal Battles

The baseball legend was indicted for deceiving a grand jury about obtaining PEDs and stood trial in 2011. Prosecutors dropped the charges down the line when the authorities chose not to challenge an reversed conviction to the highest court.

A seven-time National League MVP and star performer, he retired after the 2007 campaign with 762 homers, breaking the record of Aaron's total that Aaron achieved from 1954-76. Bonds denied consciously consuming banned substances but has failed to gain entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Conte's Post-Prison Life

He told the Associated Press in a 2010 interview that “sportspeople break rules to triumph, but the federal representatives engage in misconduct as well.” He also questioned whether the conclusions in these trials merited the work.

After serving his sentence, he resumed operations in 2007 by reviving a health products venture he had founded previously called Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning or SNAC System. He set up shop in the very same place that previously contained his former lab in Burlingame, California.

Unapologetic Views

Conte stayed unrepentant about his major involvement in doling out tailored drugs to professional competitors. He maintained he simply helped “balance the odds” in a world teeming with rule-breakers.

Expert Opinions

To an expert, a former participant of the global anti-doping body, he could be compared to selling cocaine or heroin. “You are talking about unlawful substance distribution. This refers to substance use in breach of national statutes,” Wadler said in 2007. “This is not philanthropy and it's not altruistic. It's trafficking.”