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Victor Conte, the mastermind behind Major League Baseball's infamous steroids scandal in the early 2000s, has died at the age of 75.
Conte, who also worked with some of the biggest names in track and boxing, announced in June that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
'We are Heartbroken by the Passing of our Fearless Leader...' a post on the X account of his company SNAC read.
'We will Honor his Wishes. SNAC and his Legacy will Carry Forward, Strong and Forever. We LOVE you, Conte!'
Conte pleaded guilty in 2005 to conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering after being accused of supplying the drugs to top athletes, including baseball legend Barry Bonds and Olympic sprinter Marion Jones.
Two years earlier, federal agents had raided his home and his business, BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative), as part of the investigation into steroids. Conte went on to serve four months in a minimum-security prison in California.
Victor Conte, the mastermind behind MLB's steroids scandal in the early 2000s, has died
He pleaded guilty in 2005 to conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering
Conte, who worked with some of boxing's biggest names, had been battling pancreatic cancer
In 2007, Jones pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators when she denied taking PEDs. She was sentenced to six months in prison. Bonds, meanwhile, has consistently denied knowingly taking steroids. In 2006, Conte told USA Today of Bonds: 'BALCO did not give him steroids... I never gave him steroids.'
After his release from prison, Conte became a campaigner for clean sport and set up SNAC (Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning).
SNAC offered 'revolutionary, science-driven supplements' that are 'routinely used by elite athletes and fitness enthusiasts.'
He worked with some of the biggest names in boxing, including Andre Ward, Devin Haney and Terence Crawford.
Back in 2018, Conte spoke to the Daily Mail about the threat of performance-enhancing drugs in boxing, claiming the problem was 'rampant.'
He said at the time that he believed ‘a majority, more than 50 per cent’ of fighters use PEDs in the 12 months leading to big fights.
‘They feel that in order to be competitive, they have to do what they have to do. And if they have knowledge that an opponent is doing it, they feel like an eye-for-an-eye, a tooth-for-a-tooth,' Conte said.
‘We all realize how powerful PEDs are... (but) the financial incentive is so great and the consequences and penalties so small that (doping) is a good bet,’ Conte said.
