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The man behind the scheme, who engineered a plan to supply stealthy PEDs to top competitors including baseball icons Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and Olympic track champion Jones years back, has passed away. He was 75.

Official Inquiry and Criminal Cases

The federal government's investigation into another company established by Conte, the Bay Area lab, led to the criminal findings of Marion Jones, top track cyclist Tammy Thomas, and former NFL defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield, in addition to various support personnel and professionals.

Open Discussions and Prison Time

Conte, who spent a third of a year in federal prison for dealing steroids, talked publicly about his famous former clients. He appeared on broadcast media to state he had witnessed decorated Olympian Jones use a syringe with growth hormones, but consistently avoided implicating Bonds, the baseball star.

The Mitchell Report

The investigation led to the book Game of Shadows. Shortly after the release of the book in the mid-2000s, the sport's chief Bud Selig hired former senate majority leader George Mitchell to examine doping in baseball.

He admitted he distributed steroids called two specific substances and coached on their usage to dozens of elite athletes, including Giambi, a five-time major league All-Star, the Mitchell report said.

Employing banned drugs represents a major risk to the fairness of the sport,” the report stated. “Broad usage by players of these drugs puts at a disadvantage the honest athletes who avoid them and raises questions about the legitimacy of sporting achievements.”

Mitchell indicated the challenges didn’t develop overnight. He said all parties in professional baseball in the preceding decades – including leaders, club officials, the players’ association and players – bore partial blame for what he called the PED epoch.

Case Inception

The official probe into the company began with a revenue officer searching the company’s trash. He ultimately admitted guilt to two of the numerous counts against him in that year before a trial. Six of the defendants sentenced were convicted for lying to federal investigators.

Associated Convictions

His fitness instructor Greg Anderson, confessed to steroid distribution charges stemming from his ties to the lab. He received a sentence to three months in jail and an equal period of house arrest.

The Slugger's Case

The home run king was charged with providing false statements to a federal jury about receiving PEDs and went on trial in the early 2010s. The government abandoned his case down the line when the government decided not to contest an reversed conviction to the highest court.

A multiple MVP winner and frequent All-Star, he concluded his playing days after the 2007 season with 762 home runs, breaking the milestone of Aaron's total that Hank Aaron achieved from 1954-76. He claimed he did not knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs but has failed to gain entry to the Hall of Fame.

Later Years

He told the Associated Press in a 2010 interview that “competitors do cheat to triumph, but the federal representatives also bend the rules.” He also questioned whether the conclusions in such legal cases were worth the resources.

After serving his sentence, he returned to work in the late 2000s by reviving a supplements company he had founded two decades earlier called SNAC System. He operated in the very same place that previously contained Balco in Burlingame, California.

Defiant Stance

He stayed unrepentant about his central role in distributing designer steroids to professional competitors. He claimed he simply helped “balance the odds” in a sports environment full of doping athletes.

Outside Views

To an expert, a at the time a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Conte may as well have been distributing hard drugs. “It concerns unlawful substance distribution. This refers to using drugs in breach of national statutes,” he stated in 2007. “It's not a good deed and this is not some do-gooding. This is drug dealing.”