Victor Conte

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American musician (1950–2025)

title: "Victor Conte" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1950-births", "2025-deaths", "sports-controversies", "american-jazz-bass-guitarists", "american-male-bass-guitarists", "tower-of-power-members", "deaths-from-pancreatic-cancer-in-california", "american-people-of-italian-descent", "american-male-jazz-musicians", "american-people-convicted-of-money-laundering", "american-people-convicted-of-drug-offenses", "20th-century-american-businesspeople", "21st-century-american-businesspeople", "20th-century-american-male-musicians", "musicians-from-fresno,-california", "musicians-from-san-mateo,-california", "businesspeople-from-san-mateo,-california", "businesspeople-from-fresno,-california", "criminals-from-san-mateo,-california"] description: "American musician (1950–2025)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Conte" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American musician (1950–2025) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameVictor Conte Jr.
birth_date
birth_placeFresno, California, U.S.
death_date
death_placeSan Mateo, California, U.S.
occupation
known_for
relativesBruce Conte (cousin)
module{{infobox musical artist
aliasWalkin' Fish
past_member_of
years_active1969–1979
instrumentBass guitar
genre
::

| name = Victor Conte Jr. | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Fresno, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = San Mateo, California, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = | known_for = | relatives = Bruce Conte (cousin) | module = {{infobox musical artist|embed=yes | alias = Walkin' Fish | past_member_of = | years_active = 1969–1979 | instrument = Bass guitar | genre =

Victor Conte Jr. (July 10, 1950 – November 3, 2025) was an American musician and businessman who was the founder and president of Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), which is now defunct. BALCO was a sports nutrition center in California. In the late 1970s, Conte played bass with funk and R&B group Tower of Power, appearing on the band's 1978 release We Came to Play!.

Conte served time in prison in 2005 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids and to money laundering. He later operated Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning (SNAC Nutrition).

Early life and music career

Victor Conte Jr. was born in Fresno, California, on July 10, 1950, to Shirley and Victor Conte Sr. He was the oldest of three children in a working-class Italian family. Conte graduated from McLane High School, and received an athletic scholarship from Fresno State University for his talent as a runner. Instead, he attended Fresno City College but dropped out of college in 1969 after being convinced by his cousin, musician Bruce Conte, to join the band Common Ground as its bass player. In 1970, he quit playing in Common Ground and joined the band Pure Food and Drug Act.

At the time, Conte's nickname was "Walkin' Fish", due to his unusual way of moving across the stage when he was performing. He left Pure Food and Drug Act some time prior to 1977. He was a member of Tower of Power from 1977 until 1979 playing bass guitar. He also collaborated during that period with pianist Herbie Hancock and violinist Sugarcane Harris.

Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative

Main article: BALCO scandal, Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative

In 1984, Conte founded the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), a sports nutrition center first located in Millbrae, California and later relocated to Burlingame, California. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) says he developed the banned steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (nicknamed "The Clear") with the help of bodybuilding chemist Patrick Arnold. Pursuant to a plea bargain struck with prosecutors, he entered guilty pleas in July 2005 to one count of conspiracy to distribute steroids and a second count of laundering a portion of a check. He was sentenced in October of the same year to four months in the federal Taft Correctional Institution in Taft, California, with four months on house arrest.

In a December 2004 interview with Martin Bashir on ABC's 20/20 program, he admitted to running doping programs which have broken Olympic records. He said, "The whole history of the games is just full of corruption, cover-up, performance-enhancing drug use." In the interview he implicated five-time Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones and her partner Tim Montgomery, Kelli White (who later admitted using performance-enhancing drugs), sprinter Dwain Chambers, NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski, and others.

On December 21, 2006, Yahoo Sports reported that one of Conte's initial defense lawyers, Troy Ellerman, had been targeted by the FBI as a possible source of leaks to the media during the Barry Bonds probe. On February 14, 2007, Ellerman pleaded guilty to leaking grand jury testimony. It was also reported that FBI agents were an additional source of leaks. In May 2007, Conte claimed to be again providing supplements for Dwain Chambers, who left track and field to play in the NFL Europa league for the Hamburg Sea Devils before returning to athletics in 2008. According to Conte, the nutritional supplements provided via his company Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning, are perfectly legal.

On December 13, 2007, Conte appeared on CNN before The Mitchell Report was officially released.{{cite news | title = Victor Conte on CNN before Mitchell Report release | url = http://test.redlasso.com/service/svc/clip/playClip?fid=b8ff7d67-f4c9-417b-a629-e670650b131e | publisher = CNN | date = December 13, 2007

Books

Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports was published by two San Francisco Chronicle investigative reporters in 2006, relating to the case. There have been controversies about the informant and/or source of the information about the books and related court cases.

In 2008, in the aftermath of the investigation, Conte wrote a book BALCO: The Straight Dope on Barry Bonds, Marion and What We Can Do to Save Sports which was co-written with author Nathan Jendrick. There was defamation litigation about the book's publication by boxer Shane Mosley which delayed the publication date. Mosley dropped the lawsuit, but not before Skyhorse Publishing had been scared away from publishing it. The book is officially unpublished as of 2017, but the unpublished manuscript has been made available.

Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning

In 2011, Conte started a new company, Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning (SNAC) which is based in San Carlos, California, which in addition to nutritional supplements also offers boxing and sports training. One of SNAC's clients is boxer Zab Judah; Conte had previously worked with Andre Berto, Nonito Donaire, and Andre Ward.

Personal life and death

Conte was married to Mandy Tubbs, with whom he raised three daughters. Conte died from pancreatic cancer at home in San Mateo, California on November 3, 2025, at the age of 75.

References

References

  1. (September 3, 2003). "Memorandum of Interview – Victor Conte Jr.". [[IRS Criminal Investigation.
  2. (2006). "Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports". Penguin.
  3. Fordyce, Tom. (October 23, 2003). "2003 biography by BBC Sport". BBC News.
  4. "Strokeland Superband – Bruce Conte". Strokeland.com.
  5. (October 24, 2003). "The Guardian profile: Victor Conte". The Guardian.
  6. Fordyce, Tom. (October 23, 2003). "Man at the heart of the THG scandal".
  7. Harris, Paul. (December 5, 2004). "How drugs shattered America's Olympic dreams". The Guardian.
  8. (December 21, 2006). "BALCO leaks exposed – Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com.
  9. (May 30, 2007). "Chambers to have extra dope tests". BBC News.
  10. (February 14, 2007). "Lawyer Admits Leaking BALCO / He agrees to plead guilty – prosecutors say they'll end effort to jail reporters". SFGate.
  11. Conte, Victor. (February 1, 2009). "BALCO: The Straight Dope on Steroids, Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, and What We Can Do to Save Sports". Skyhorse Publishing Company, Incorporated.
  12. "BALCO book battle raging". NY Daily News.
  13. (March 19, 2011). "BALCO founder finds redemption, success". NY Daily News.
  14. Stewart, James B.. (2011). "Tangled Webs: How False Statements Are Undermining America: From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff". Penguin.
  15. Layden, Tim. (June 28, 2017). "With BALCO behind him, Victor Conte is still hustling and loving every minute of it". Time Inc..
  16. (March 28, 2011). "Chronology of a Scandal". Burlingame-Hillsborough, CA Patch.
  17. (July 23, 2011). "Video: Victor Conte Talks Judah Machine, Ariza Subplot – Boxing News". Boxingscene.com.
  18. Rafael, Dan. (March 15, 2012). "Rodriguez-George promises action". ESPN.com.
  19. (November 3, 2025). "Victor Conte, steroids scandal and polarizing BALCO mastermind, dies at 75". USA Today.
  20. (November 3, 2025). "BALCO architect Victor Conte loses battle with cancer at age of 75". Mercury News.
  21. "Obituary: Victor Conte Jr.".

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