Victor Conte, the mastermind behind the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco) steroids ring that supplied undetectable performance-enhancing drugs to elite athletes, has died at the age of 75. The company he founded, Balco, was at the centre of a major federal investigation that led to convictions of Olympic track champion Marion Jones, elite sprint cyclist Tammy Thomas, and former NFL defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield, among others.
Conte served four months in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2005 to two of 42 charges related to steroid distribution. He later spoke openly about his former clients, claiming he saw Jones inject herself with human growth hormones. However, he stopped short of implicating baseball star Barry Bonds, who was later charged with lying to a grand jury about receiving performance-enhancing drugs; the case was dropped in 2015.
The Balco scandal prompted Major League Baseball to commission the Mitchell Report, which concluded that the illegal use of performance-enhancing substances posed a serious threat to the integrity of the game. The report noted that Conte sold steroids known as 'the cream' and 'the clear' to dozens of elite athletes, including five-time All-Star Jason Giambi.
After his release from prison, Conte resumed business with his nutritional supplements company, Snac System, operating from the same building that once housed Balco in Burlingame, California. He remained defiant, stating he helped 'level the playing field' in a world already rife with cheaters.
Dr Gary Wadler, a former member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, condemned Conte's actions, comparing them to drug trafficking. 'This is not philanthropy and this is not some do-gooding. This is drug dealing,' Wadler said in 2007.
