Ricky Donnell Ross (born January 26, 1960[1]), also known as "Freeway" Ricky Ross , is a convicted drug trafficker best known for the "drug empire" that he presided over inLos Angeles, in the early 1980s.[2] The nickname "Freeway" came from Ross's ownership of several properties along the Harbor Freeway. His old house he grew up in is where a freeway now stands.[3] During the height of his drug dealing, Ross claims to have made "$2 million in one day."
In 1996, Ross was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of trying to purchase more than 100 kilograms of cocaine from a federal agent. Ross became the subject of controversy later that year when a series of articles by journalist Gary Webb in the San Jose Mercury News brought to light a connection between one of Ross's cocaine sources, Danilo Blandon, and the CIA as part of the Iran-Contra scandal.[4] The decision in Ross's case was brought to a federal court of appeals where his sentence was reduced to 20 years. His sentence has since been reduced further for being a model prisoner and he was moved to a halfway house in California in March 2009, and was released on September 29, 2009.[5]
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