Victor Conte, central figure in BALCO steroids scandal involving Barry Bonds and other athletes, dies at 75

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — One of the most controversial figures in sports history has passed away. Victor Conte died at the age of 75 from cancer.

Conte was born in Fresno in 1950. In his 20s, Conte was more well-known for music than anything else, playing bass for Tower of Power on the album “We Came to Play.”

Years later, Conte turned to nutrition spending hours in libraries to learn biochemistry. He developed a formula known as ZMA, a supplement that is sold worldwide, making Conte a millionaire.

It was his introduction to steroids that changed sports forever. Conte helped develop what became known as the cream and the clear, steroids that led to massive muscle growth but were undetectable at the time. However, drug testing improved and Olympians Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery were caught using Conte’s products, stripped of their medals and ended up serving brief jail sentences.

Also involved in the scandal: baseball’s home run king Barry Bonds, who was connected to Bonte’s company BALCO through his trainer Greg Anderson. Anderson refused to testify in a case against Bonds, who claimed he never knowingly took banned substances.

Conte was the subject of a federal investigation, pled guilty to distributing steroids and money laundering, serving four months in prison.

Upon his release, Conte made it his mission to clean up sports, alerting authorities to loopholes in testing protocols, and sold supplements thru his company SNAC, Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning. A showman with a big personality, Conte was always ready to share his opinions.

Conte began working with championship caliber boxers like Andre Ward, Davin Haney and Nonito Donaire to name a few, sharing his success on social media, often in a Bentley or a Rolls.