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The man behind the scheme, who devised a plan to supply undetectable PEDs to professional athletes featuring baseball icons Giambi and Bonds and track and field star Jones decades ago, has died. His age was 75.

Federal Investigation and Criminal Cases

A national inquiry regarding another company set up by him, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco), led to the criminal findings of Jones, elite sprint cyclist Tammy Thomas, and ex-pro football defender Dana Stubblefield, along with coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.

Conte's Admissions and Prison Time

He, who spent a third of a year in a federal facility for illegal drug sales, spoke openly about his well-known clients. He appeared on TV to claim he had witnessed triple Olympic champion Marion Jones self-administer with growth hormones, but consistently avoided incriminating Barry Bonds, the Giants power hitter.

The Mitchell Report

The investigation inspired the book Game of Shadows. Shortly after the release of the book in that year, MLB commissioner Selig hired former senate majority leader George Mitchell to examine doping in baseball.

Conte stated he provided steroids known as “the cream” and “the clear” and guided their application to dozens of elite athletes, including Giambi, a multiple-time All-Star, the Mitchell report said.

Using performance-enhancing substances is a significant danger to the fairness of the sport,” the Mitchell report concluded. “Widespread use by players of these drugs harms the those who refuse to cheat who decline to take them and raises questions about the accuracy of baseball records.”

The report noted the issues didn’t develop overnight. Mitchell claimed all parties in professional baseball in the preceding decades – encompassing commissioners, management, the representative body and players – shared some responsibility for what he labeled the doping period.

Case Inception

The federal investigation into Balco was initiated by a tax agent searching the company’s trash. Conte ultimately admitted guilt to a pair of the multiple accusations against him in that year ahead of a court case. Six of the 11 convicted people were ensnared for misleading federal investigators.

Associated Convictions

His fitness instructor Anderson, admitted guilt to illegal substance sales arising from his ties to the lab. Anderson was sentenced to a quarter year in jail and an equal period of home confinement.

Bonds' Legal Battles

The baseball legend was accused of lying to a federal jury about receiving banned substances and went on trial in 2011. The case was dismissed the case four years later when the prosecutors opted not to appeal an overturned ruling to the supreme court.

A decorated player and star performer, he retired after the 2007 campaign with 762 home runs, surpassing the mark of Aaron's total that Hank Aaron set from his career. Bonds denied consciously consuming banned substances but has failed to gain entry to the sport's hall of honor.

Later Years

He told the Associated Press in a 2010 discussion that “competitors do cheat to succeed, but the government agents and prosecutors engage in misconduct as well.” He wondered whether the results in these trials were worth the resources.

Post-incarceration, Conte resumed operations in the late 2000s by reviving a health products venture he had founded previously called his supplements brand. He set up shop in the same building that once housed Balco in Burlingame.

Defiant Stance

He remained defiant about his major involvement in doling out custom PEDs to elite athletes. He maintained he simply helped “level the playing field” in a arena full of doping athletes.

Expert Opinions

To an expert, a former participant of the global anti-doping body, he may as well have been distributing illegal narcotics. “You are talking about totally illegal drug trafficking. You are talking about substance use in violation of federal law,” the doctor remarked in that period. “This isn't charity and this is not some do-gooding. It's trafficking.”