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Victor Conte, who engineered a system to supply hard-to-detect performance-enhancing drugs to elite sports stars such as MLB legends Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and track and field star Jones years back, has died. He was 75.

Government Probe and Convictions

An official inquiry regarding an additional venture set up by him, Balco, led to the criminal findings of Jones, top track cyclist Thomas, and retired NFL player Stubblefield, as well as coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.

Conte's Admissions and Sentencing

The Balco founder, who served four months in federal prison for dealing steroids, talked publicly about his high-profile athletes. He appeared on broadcast media to state he had observed decorated Olympian Marion Jones inject herself with human growth hormones, but never directly pointing the finger at Bonds, the Giants power hitter.

Baseball's Investigation

This probe resulted in the book Game of Shadows. Shortly after the book's publication in the mid-2000s, baseball Commissioner Selig appointed political figure George Mitchell to investigate steroids.

He admitted he distributed steroids known as “the cream” and “the clear” and advised on their use to dozens of elite athletes, including Jason Giambi, a multiple-time All-Star, according to the report.

“The illegal use of banned drugs represents a major risk to the honesty of the competition,” the findings emphasized. “Widespread use by players of these compounds puts at a disadvantage the those who refuse to cheat who decline to take them and leads to skepticism about the legitimacy of baseball records.”

The report noted the challenges were not sudden. Mitchell claimed all parties in the sport in the previous twenty years – including leaders, club officials, the representative body and players – bore partial blame for what he labeled the PED epoch.

Case Inception

The official probe into Balco was initiated by a revenue officer searching the business refuse. Conte ultimately admitted guilt to a couple of the numerous counts filed against him in 2005 prior to court proceedings. Several of the 11 convicted people were caught deceiving grand jurors.

Further Legal Actions

Bonds’ personal trainer Anderson, pleaded guilty to illegal substance sales arising from his ties to the lab. He received a sentence to a quarter year in jail and the same duration of home confinement.

His Court Proceedings

Bonds was charged with providing false statements to a investigative body about receiving PEDs and faced a trial in 2011. The government abandoned his case after several years when the authorities chose 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 campaign with 762 home runs, breaking the record of that number that Aaron achieved from 1954-76. Bonds denied consciously consuming banned substances but has never been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Conte's Post-Prison Life

Conte stated in an interview in a 2010 discussion that “yes, athletes cheat to succeed, but the government agents and prosecutors engage in misconduct as well.” He also questioned whether the outcomes in such proceedings were worth the resources.

After serving his sentence, Conte got back in business in that year by rebooting a nutritional supplements business he had launched two decades earlier called his supplements brand. He set up shop in the same building that once housed his former lab in Burlingame, California.

Continued Justification

Conte remained defiant about his key part in distributing tailored drugs to top sports stars. He maintained he simply helped “even the competition” in a arena full of doping athletes.

Expert Opinions

To a WADA member, a then-member of the WADA, he may as well have been distributing cocaine or heroin. “It concerns unlawful substance distribution. It's about using drugs in defiance of legal codes,” he stated in that period. “This is not philanthropy and it's not altruistic. It's trafficking.”