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The man behind the scheme, who devised a system to distribute undetectable banned substances to elite sports stars including baseball greats Giambi and Bonds and Olympic track champion Marion Jones years back, has passed away. He reached 75 years.

Government Probe and Convictions

The federal government's probe of a separate firm Conte founded, Balco, resulted in the convictions of Marion Jones, competitive biker Thomas, and former NFL defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield, as well as coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.

Public Statements and Sentencing

He, who completed several months in a penitentiary for dealing steroids, talked publicly about his well-known clients. He appeared on broadcast media to assert he had observed three-time Olympic medalist Jones self-administer with HGH, but consistently avoided incriminating Barry Bonds, the Giants power hitter.

Sport's Official Review

The federal case resulted in the publication titled Game of Shadows. Shortly after the release of the book in that year, MLB commissioner Bud Selig appointed political figure George Mitchell to investigate steroids.

Conte stated he provided steroids known as certain undetectable drugs and guided their application to many professional sportspeople, including Giambi, a star player, the Mitchell report said.

Using performance-enhancing substances is a significant danger to the integrity of the competition,” the report stated. “Prevalent consumption by players of such substances harms the honest athletes who decline to take them and leads to skepticism about the accuracy of historical stats.”

Mitchell indicated the challenges didn’t develop overnight. He said everyone involved in the sport in the preceding decades – including leaders, club officials, the representative body and athletes themselves – bore partial blame for what he labeled the doping period.

Case Inception

The official probe into Balco was initiated by a tax agent digging through the company’s trash. Conte ended up pleading guilty to two of the numerous counts filed against him in 2005 ahead of a court case. Half a dozen of the defendants sentenced were ensnared for lying to the court.

Related Cases

Bonds’ personal trainer Anderson, admitted guilt to drug dealing counts arising from his Balco connections. He received a sentence to a quarter year in jail and an equal period of home confinement.

His Court Proceedings

The home run king was indicted for lying to a investigative body about obtaining PEDs and faced a trial in that year. Prosecutors dropped his case down the line when the prosecutors opted not to contest an overturned ruling to the federal apex court.

A decorated player and 14-time All-Star outfielder, he retired after the that season with 762 homers, exceeding the record of 755 that Hank Aaron set from the 1950s to 1970s. The athlete refuted consciously consuming PEDs but has failed to gain entry to the sport's hall of honor.

Conte's Post-Prison Life

Conte told the Associated Press in a 2010 interview that “yes, athletes cheat to triumph, but the government agents and prosecutors engage in misconduct as well.” He wondered whether the results in such proceedings justified the effort.

Following his prison term, Conte got back in business in the late 2000s by reviving a health products venture he had started years before 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.

Continued Justification

The controversial figure continued to justify about his major involvement in distributing custom PEDs to professional competitors. He claimed he simply helped “balance the odds” in a sports environment full of cheaters.

Expert Opinions

To a WADA member, a at the time a member of the global anti-doping body, he could be compared to distributing hard drugs. “This involves blatant drug dealing. It's about using drugs in breach of national statutes,” Wadler said in 2007. “This is not philanthropy and this is not some do-gooding. This is drug dealing.”