BALCO architect Victor Conte loses battle with cancer at age of 75

"Victor Conte, a pioneering San Mateo nutritionist who was at the center of one of the biggest sports drug scandals in history involving Barry Bonds, Marion Jones and many other star athletes, and who later became a leading anti-doping advocate in the world of boxing, died early Monday morning, his daughters announced. He was 75. Conte remained active in boxing, working with some of the sport's top athletes even as he battled pancreatic cancer for the past year."

"He had spent much of the past two decades seeking redemption for his role in the BALCO episode that led to a 42-count indictment from an Internal Revenue Service investigation. There are always going to be people who say I'm the devil, who hate me and think I'm the guy who destroyed the national pastime, Conte told the Bay Area News Group during a 2011 visit to his Burlingame supplement company. I understand I made some bad decisions and harmed a lot of people."

"Victor Conte,left, talks to East Bay boxer Nonito Donaire Jr. the WBC and WBO Bantamweight Champion, who trains nearby, and endorses Conte's products in Conte's Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning (SNAC) office in San Carlos, Calif., on March 4, 2011. (LiPo Ching/Mercury News) After serving a four-month prison sentence in 2005-06, Conte launched a supplement company called Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning, or SNAC. SNAC provided an entrepreneurial path for Conte to rebuild his net worth and reputation."

Victor Conte was a San Mateo nutritionist who played a central role in the BALCO doping scandal involving Barry Bonds, Marion Jones and other star athletes. He later became an anti-doping advocate in boxing and worked with top fighters while battling pancreatic cancer. He sought redemption after a 42-count indictment tied to an IRS investigation and served a four-month prison sentence in 2005-06. He launched Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning (SNAC), which sold ZMA sleep enhancer and claimed sales of 100,000 bottles monthly by 2011. His SNAC office displayed memorabilia from athletes he had worked with during BALCO and in boxing.

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