The Balco mastermind, Central Player in Infamous Sports Performance-Enhancing Drug Scandal, Dies at 75.

The man behind the scheme, who masterminded a plan to distribute undetectable PEDs to professional athletes such as MLB legends Giambi and Bonds and Olympic track champion Marion Jones in the past, has passed away. His age was 75.

Federal Investigation and Criminal Cases

A national inquiry regarding a separate firm Conte founded, Balco, culminated in the criminal findings of Jones, top track cyclist Tammy Thomas, and former NFL defensive lineman Stubblefield, as well as coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.

Public Statements and Prison Time

He, who completed a third of a year in federal prison for illegal drug sales, talked publicly about his high-profile athletes. He appeared on television to claim he had seen three-time Olympic medalist Jones inject herself with human growth hormones, but never directly incriminating Bonds, the Giants power hitter.

Baseball's Investigation

The investigation resulted in the volume titled Game of Shadows. Shortly after the book's publication in that year, the sport's chief Bud Selig brought on ex-senator Mitchell to investigate steroids.

He admitted he provided steroids called two specific substances and guided their application to dozens of elite athletes, including Jason Giambi, a multiple-time All-Star, the Mitchell report said.

Employing PEDs represents a major risk to the integrity of the competition,” the findings emphasized. “Prevalent consumption by players of such substances harms the those who refuse to cheat who avoid them and raises questions about the validity of historical stats.”

The report noted the issues were not sudden. The report emphasized everyone involved in baseball in the previous twenty years – including commissioners, management, the union and athletes themselves – bore partial blame for what he termed the doping period.

Case Inception

The federal investigation into Balco was initiated by a IRS investigator examining the company’s trash. The defendant ended up pleading guilty to a couple of the 42 charges filed against him in that year prior to court proceedings. Several of the defendants sentenced were ensnared for deceiving federal investigators.

Associated Convictions

Bonds’ personal trainer Anderson, pleaded guilty to drug dealing counts stemming from his ties to the lab. Anderson was sentenced to three months in prison and the same duration of restricted movement.

His Court Proceedings

The baseball legend was indicted for lying to a investigative body about obtaining performance-enhancing drugs and stood trial in that year. Prosecutors dropped the charges after several years when the prosecutors opted not to appeal an overturned ruling to the federal apex court.

A seven-time National League MVP and 14-time All-Star outfielder, he retired after the 2007 campaign with 762 homers, surpassing the record of Aaron's total that Hank Aaron achieved from the 1950s to 1970s. The athlete refuted intentionally taking banned substances but has not been voted to the sport's hall of honor.

Later Years

He told the Associated Press in a 2010 discussion that “competitors do cheat to win, but the federal representatives engage in misconduct as well.” He also questioned whether the conclusions in such proceedings merited the work.

Post-incarceration, Conte got back in business in the late 2000s by resuscitating a supplements company he had launched years before called SNAC System. He set up shop in the identical location that was home to Balco in Burlingame.

Continued Justification

Conte continued to justify about his major involvement in doling out custom PEDs to elite athletes. He claimed he simply helped “even the competition” in a world full of cheaters.

Critical Perspectives

To an expert, a then-member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Conte could be compared to selling illegal narcotics. “This involves unlawful substance distribution. It's about using drugs in breach of national statutes,” the doctor remarked in the past. “This is not philanthropy and it's not altruistic. It's illegal sales.”