BALCO's Conte Pleads Guilty

BALCO founder Victor Conte pleaded guilty Friday to steroid distribution and money laundering in a deal with federal prosecutors, making it much less likely that top athletes such as Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Marion Jones will be forced to testify about alleged drug use.

Two other men charged with Conte also were expected to plead guilty Friday to reduced charges, a law enforcement source said on condition of anonymity. A fourth man, track coach Remi Korchemny, delayed accepting any plea agreement.

Conte, who founded the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, was charged with illegally distributing performance-enhancing drugs to more than 30 baseball, football and track and field stars. He faced a maximum of 20 years in prison for the money laundering charge and five years for the conspiracy charge.

"I agreed with others to distribute steroids," Conte said in court. "I knew at the time that steroid distribution was an unlawful activity."

According to a written statement from his attorney, Mary McNamara, Conte was going to ask the judge for four months imprisonment and four months of home detention as part of the deal.

"Mr. Conte has always accepted responsibility for the conduct reflected in this plea agreement and is looking forward to putting the case behind him," McNamara said on Friday.

Greg Anderson, Bonds' longtime friend and personal trainer, faced up to six months imprisonment as part of his plea agreement. Prosecutors agreed to drop dozens of counts against Conte and Anderson if they pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to distribute steroids and a single count of money laundering, the source said.

BALCO vice president James Valente was expected to plead guilty to one count of distributing illegal steroids and receive probation.

All four men appeared in court Friday before U.S. District Judge Susan Illston.

The case, which began two years ago when authorities learned about a new, undetected designer steroid, opened the public's eyes to performance-enhancing drugs in sports while forcing professional leagues to tighten drug-testing rules.

Earlier this year, major league baseball toughened its drug-testing policy, mandating suspensions for initial violations. Congress also threatened to implement a federal drug-testing policy for the NFL, NBA, NHL and the major leagues, with a two-year ban for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second violation.

While the case catapulted steroid use into a front-burner issue from Capitol Hill to baseball clubhouses and from schools to living rooms, the plea agreements prevented several key athletes suspected of steroid use from having to testify in open court.

Some of the biggest names in sports, including baseball stars Bonds and Giambi, have been under a cloud of suspicion based on BALCO grand jury transcripts that were leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as public accusations against Olympic star Jones by Conte and others.

None of the athletes publicly has admitted steroid use, and pleas by the four defendants would mean they won't have to repeat their secret grand jury testimony in a public courtroom.

Conte, Anderson, Valente and Korchemny were charged last year with dozens of counts in connection to federal raids at Burlingame-based BALCO in 2003 and at Anderson's house in Burlingame.

Federal agents stated in court records they seized calendars and other documents detailing the use of steroids by professional baseball players during the search of Anderson's home. A federal agent wrote in court papers that, during the raid at BALCO headquarters, "Conte openly acknowledged giving testosterone-based cream, itself a steroid, to numerous professional athletes."
By Mary Papenfuss