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The man behind the scheme, who engineered a plan to distribute stealthy banned substances to top competitors such as baseball icons Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and sprinting gold medalist Jones in the past, has died. He was 75.

Government Probe and Criminal Cases

An official inquiry regarding another company established by Conte, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco), resulted in the criminal findings of Jones, top track cyclist Thomas, and ex-pro football defender Stubblefield, in addition to coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.

Conte's Admissions and Legal Consequences

He, who completed four months in federal prison for illegal drug sales, spoke openly about his well-known clients. He was featured on broadcast media to claim he had witnessed triple Olympic champion Marion Jones inject herself with human growth hormones, but consistently avoided pointing the finger at Barry Bonds, the Giants power hitter.

The Mitchell Report

The investigation led to the publication titled Game of Shadows. A week after the release of the book in the mid-2000s, the sport's chief Bud Selig brought on political figure George Mitchell to examine doping in baseball.

Conte stated he distributed steroids known as two specific substances and advised on their usage to dozens of professional sportspeople, such as Giambi, a star player, the Mitchell report said.

Employing banned drugs poses a serious threat to the integrity of the sport,” the report stated. “Prevalent consumption by players of such substances unfairly disadvantages the those who refuse to cheat who avoid them and leads to skepticism about the accuracy of historical stats.”

The report noted the issues were not sudden. He said all parties in baseball in the prior two decades – covering commissioners, team executives, the representative body and athletes themselves – were partly accountable for what he called the PED epoch.

How It Began

The federal investigation into the company started when a revenue officer digging through the company’s trash. He eventually confessed to two of the multiple accusations filed against him in the mid-2000s prior to court proceedings. Half a dozen of the defendants sentenced were caught lying to grand jurors.

Associated Convictions

Bonds’ personal trainer Greg Anderson, confessed to drug dealing counts stemming from his Balco connections. Anderson was sentenced to 90 days in incarceration and three months of home confinement.

The Slugger's Case

The home run king was charged with deceiving a federal jury about using PEDs and faced a trial in the early 2010s. Prosecutors dropped the charges after several years when the authorities chose not to contest an overturned obstruction of justice conviction to the supreme court.

A decorated player and frequent All-Star, Bonds concluded his playing days after the 2007 campaign with 762 homers, breaking the milestone of Aaron's total that Aaron achieved from the 1950s to 1970s. The athlete refuted knowingly using PEDs but has not been voted to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Conte's Post-Prison Life

Conte remarked to the 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 outcomes in such proceedings were worth the resources.

After serving his sentence, Conte resumed operations in that year by reviving a health products venture he had launched years before called SNAC System. He operated in the same building that previously contained the original company in the California city.

Continued Justification

Conte stayed unrepentant about his key part in providing tailored drugs to elite athletes. He claimed he simply helped “even the competition” in a world already rife with doping athletes.

Outside Views

To a WADA member, a at the time a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, he may as well have been distributing hard drugs. “You are talking about totally illegal drug trafficking. It's about substance use in breach of national statutes,” the doctor remarked in the past. “This isn't charity and not a benevolent act. This is drug dealing.”