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Victor Conte, who engineered a operation to provide stealthy performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes including MLB legends Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and track and field star Marion Jones years back, has passed away. He was 75.

Government Probe and Legal Outcomes

A national probe of an additional venture established by Conte, Balco, resulted in the convictions of Jones, elite sprint cyclist Thomas, and retired NFL player Dana Stubblefield, along with coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.

Conte's Admissions and Prison Time

He, who completed a third of a year in a penitentiary for steroid distribution, spoke openly about his high-profile athletes. He appeared on TV to state he had observed triple Olympic champion Marion Jones self-administer with human growth hormones, but always refrained from incriminating Bonds, the Giants power hitter.

Baseball's Investigation

The investigation resulted in the book titled Game of Shadows. Just days following the book's publication in that year, baseball Commissioner Selig hired ex-senator Mitchell to investigate steroids.

Conte stated he sold steroids known as certain undetectable drugs and coached on their application to dozens of elite athletes, including Jason Giambi, a star player, the Mitchell report said.

“The illegal use of banned drugs is a significant danger to the integrity of the game,” the Mitchell report concluded. “Broad usage by competitors of these compounds harms the those who refuse to cheat who avoid them and creates doubts about the accuracy of historical stats.”

It was stated the challenges didn’t develop overnight. The report emphasized each participant in the sport in the prior two decades – covering commissioners, club officials, the union and players – shared some responsibility for what he termed the PED epoch.

Investigation Origins

The government's case into Balco began with a IRS investigator searching the corporate garbage. He eventually confessed to a couple of the 42 charges filed against him in that year ahead of a court case. Several of the defendants sentenced were convicted for deceiving grand jurors.

Associated Convictions

His fitness instructor Anderson, confessed to steroid distribution charges stemming from his ties to the lab. Anderson was sentenced to three months in incarceration and three months of restricted movement.

His Court Proceedings

Bonds was accused of providing false statements to a investigative body about using performance-enhancing drugs and went on trial in the early 2010s. The government abandoned the charges down the line when the prosecutors opted not to appeal an overturned ruling to the highest court.

A seven-time National League MVP and star performer, Bonds ended his career after the 2007 campaign with 762 homers, exceeding the mark of Aaron's total that Aaron established from 1954-76. Bonds denied consciously consuming performance-enhancing drugs but has not been voted to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Conte's Post-Prison Life

The former convict stated in an interview in a 2010 discussion that “competitors do cheat to triumph, but the government agents and prosecutors also bend the rules.” He wondered whether the results in such proceedings merited the work.

Post-incarceration, Conte got back in business in the late 2000s by rebooting a health products venture he had founded years before called his supplements brand. He located it in the same building that once housed his former lab in Burlingame, California.

Defiant Stance

The controversial figure stayed unrepentant about his key part in providing tailored drugs to elite athletes. He argued he simply helped “balance the odds” in a world already rife with doping athletes.

Outside Views

To a WADA member, a then-member of the global anti-doping body, he was essentially pushing cocaine or heroin. “It concerns unlawful substance distribution. It's about substance use in breach of national statutes,” Wadler said in that period. “This is not philanthropy and not a benevolent act. It's illegal sales.”