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The man behind the scheme, who masterminded a operation to provide stealthy banned substances to elite sports stars such as baseball icons Giambi and Bonds and Olympic track champion Marion Jones in the past, has passed away. He was 75.

Official Inquiry and Convictions

An official probe of another company Conte founded, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco), resulted in the guilty verdicts of Marion Jones, top track cyclist Thomas, and ex-pro football defender Stubblefield, along with trainers, suppliers, chemists, attorneys, and coaches.

Conte's Admissions and Prison Time

He, who served several months in federal prison for steroid distribution, talked publicly about his high-profile athletes. He was featured on television to claim he had observed three-time Olympic medalist Marion Jones use a syringe with growth hormones, but consistently avoided incriminating Bonds, the Giants power hitter.

Sport's Official Review

This probe inspired the volume titled Game of Shadows. Just days following the release of the book in that year, MLB commissioner Selig hired political figure Mitchell to examine doping in baseball.

He admitted he provided steroids called certain undetectable drugs and coached on their usage to many top performers, such as Giambi, a star player, the Mitchell report said.

Employing banned drugs poses a serious threat to the fairness of the sport,” the Mitchell report concluded. “Broad usage by athletes of these compounds unfairly disadvantages the those who refuse to cheat who avoid them and creates doubts about the validity of sporting achievements.”

The report noted the issues didn’t develop overnight. He said each participant in the sport in the preceding decades – encompassing leaders, management, the union and players – shared some responsibility for what he termed the PED epoch.

How It Began

The official probe into the laboratory was initiated by a IRS investigator digging through the company’s trash. The defendant ultimately admitted guilt to two of the 42 charges he faced in 2005 ahead of a court case. Six of the individuals found guilty were convicted for misleading federal investigators.

Further Legal Actions

His fitness instructor Greg Anderson, pleaded guilty to illegal substance sales stemming from his ties to the lab. The court gave him to a quarter year in jail and three months of house arrest.

Bonds' Legal Battles

Bonds was accused of providing false statements to a federal jury about using banned substances and faced a trial in the early 2010s. Prosecutors dropped the charges down the line when the authorities chose not to challenge an overturned obstruction of justice conviction to the highest court.

A seven-time National League MVP and 14-time All-Star outfielder, Bonds retired after the 2007 campaign with 762 home runs, breaking the milestone of that number that Aaron set from the 1950s to 1970s. He claimed he did not consciously consuming performance-enhancing drugs but has not been voted to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Later Years

Conte stated in an interview in a 2010 discussion that “sportspeople break rules to triumph, but the federal representatives engage in misconduct as well.” He wondered whether the results in these trials were worth the resources.

Post-incarceration, he got back in business in 2007 by rebooting a nutritional supplements business he had started years before called his supplements brand. He operated in the very same place that was home to the original company in Burlingame, California.

Unapologetic Views

He stayed unrepentant about his central role in providing custom PEDs to elite athletes. He argued he simply helped “level the playing field” in a arena full of doping athletes.

Outside Views

To a WADA member, a then-member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, he was essentially pushing hard drugs. “It concerns unlawful substance distribution. You are talking about using drugs in violation of federal law,” Wadler said in the past. “This is not philanthropy and not a benevolent act. It's illegal sales.”