San Jose Mercury News (MCT)
Former Logan coach Remy
Korchemny retired from coaching
after the scandle.
Don Gosney photo
When the architect of sport's worst drug scandal is determined, it's almost futile to resist him.
"Go ahead. Stick your head in."
The $170,000 luxury car is one indication of how much has changed for Conte in the year since his release from a federal work camp for his role in masterminding the BALCO Laboratories steroids scandal. The flash has returned, and the San Mateo man once called an evil scientist, a charlatan, and worse, has regained his footing in the nutritional supplement industry.
Sales are up 20 percent this year, he said, looking tan and fit while darting around the nondescript Burlingame building that once housed BALCO.
"His passion is back," daughter Veronica said this week.
Since summer, Conte, 56, and Veronica have revived the business he operated for 15 years before taking "a turn down the slippery slope."
BALCO is gone, replaced by Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning (SNAC). Conte said professional athletes still want ZMA, his signature zinc and magnesium dietary supplement that he says can help naturally stimulate muscle growth. (The $1 billion supplement industry is largely unregulated, making it difficult to verify product claims.)
Conte's primary business involves bodybuilders and combat sports fighters. But he also gets Web orders from Oakland Raiders and Texas Rangers personnel.
How can he be sure?
"The shipping address is right to their facilities," said Conte, who added that he indirectly supplies Barry Bonds with ZMA.
It's surprising the Giants home-run king would continue to associate with Conte. After all, a grand jury is investigating whether Bonds lied under oath in 2003 when he testified he didn't knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs.
Conte has denied providing Bonds with drugs while acknowledging he gave steroids to Olympic track athletes. He remains on probation for another year from a 2005 conviction for distributing illegal steroids and laundering money.
The BALCO case so far has netted five convictions and sullied the reputations of such stars as Bonds, Jason Giambi, Marion Jones and Bill Romanowski. Track coach Trevor Graham and cyclist Tammy Thomas are awaiting trials on obstruction of justice charges, and 15 track athletes either tested positive or were banned because of links to Conte.
"BALCO has had a deep effect on the national and international awareness of the depth of the drug problem within sports at all levels," said Travis Tygart, general counsel for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
At the SNAC office, the only remnants of the infamous laboratory are a BALCO sign hanging at the end of a hallway and a framed 1984 check for $467.50. It was the company's first payment, Conte said.
The office hallways are lined with framed 8-by-10 photos of famous bodybuilders, football players and Olympians who have used Conte's products. Signed football jerseys adorn the freshly painted walls. Conte's field credential for the 2003 track and field world championships in Paris hangs by the entrance. A few days after the meet, federal agents burst through BALCO's glass door and carted off boxes of material that documented athletes' widespread drug use.
Conte said not much has changed in the sports world since the raid 3 { years ago.
Conte, a former bass player for the band Tower of Power, acknowledges he doesn't have proof. He bases his theory on what he has learned about countries — such as THOSE IN THE CARIBBEAN — without national drug agencies. They give "athletes on their own soil a green light to take as many drugs as they choose," he said.
Conte guesses that half the 11,000 competitors at the Sydney Games in 2000 used some kind of illegal performance aid.
"They have linked 15 to me," he said. "Where are the others getting their stuff?"
The man who once flexed his biceps on the San Francisco federal courthouse steps remains as flamboyant as ever. During a photo shoot he asked Veronica, dressed in professional attire, to repeat the pose with him.
She giggled while showing off her well-defined muscles.
"It's genetics," Conte said.
DNA or ZMA?
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
An update on some of the major figures in the BALCO Laboratories steroids case:
Greg Anderson: Barry Bonds' personal trainer has been in prison since November on contempt charges for refusing to answer grand jury questions about the Giants slugger.
Patrick Arnold: The Illinois chemist who created "the clear" was released from prison this year after serving three months for distributing illegal steroids.
Barry Bonds: The Giants left fielder is closing in on Hank Aaron's all-time career record of 755 home runs. A grand jury is investigating whether Bonds lied under oath when testifying that he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs.
Troy Ellerman: The former BALCO defense lawyer pleaded guilty Feb.15 to leaking confidential grand jury testimony of Bonds and others to the San Francisco Chronicle. Ellerman faces up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in June.
Trevor Graham: The former coach of Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and other Olympic track stars is charged with lying to federal agents investigating BALCO. His trial is scheduled for Sept.24.
Marion Jones: The Olympic star linked to BALCO married sprinter Obadele Thompson last month. She had a positive test for the banned blood-boosting drug EPO last year, but she eventually was cleared.
Remi Korchemny: The East Bay track coach who pleaded guilty to misbranding a prescription drug in the BALCO case effectively retired last month in an agreement with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Tim Montgomery: The former world-record holder in the 100 meters pleaded guilty this month to cashing bogus checks in Virginia; he faces more than three years in prison. Montgomery also was banned from track in 2005 for two years because of evidence from the BALCO case showing he used illegal drugs.
Jeff Novitzky: The former San Jose State basketball player remains the Internal Revenue Service's lead agent in continuing to track leads from the BALCO case.
Kevin Ryan: The former San Francisco U.S. attorney, among those fired in the Bush administration's recent removal of federal prosecutors, has joined the legal firm of Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Natsis in San Francisco.
Travis Tygart: The anti-doping agency's general counsel will replace Terry Madden as executive director Oct.1. He currently is preparing for what could prove to be the agency's biggest case to date — the May 14 hearing of Tour de France winner Floyd Landis.
Jim Valente: Conte's right-hand man at BALCO left the company in August. He was sentenced to three years' probation in 2005.
(c) 2007, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).
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