Early Wake-Up Call As Conte Leaves Prison

By Elliott Almond, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.

Mar. 31–Balco Laboratories founder Victor Conte Jr. was released from Taft Correctional Institution early Thursday after serving a four-month sentence for supplying elite athletes with illegal drugs.

He had steak and eggs at Harris Ranch, Conte said in a brief telephone interview from the road. He said prison officials woke him at 3 a.m. to prepare his release. They escorted him out of the minimum-security work camp at an early hour to avoid reporters and television camera crews, Conte said.

He will spend four months under house arrest in San Mateo to complete his sentence for masterminding the Balco drug scheme. Conte, 55, played a pivotal role in helping athletes in track and field, baseball and football use sophisticated performance-enhancing drugs.

He said he plans to resume his business of selling legal dietary supplements, such as ZMA, a zinc-magnesium compound. Conte said in a prison interview last week that he also wants to play a role in the national debate about drugs and sports.

"I’m just going to take it easy right now," he said Thursday.

Conte’s first priority today: play tug of war with his golden retriever. The dog’s name is Balco.

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