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  Date / Time: 1/27/2009 6:17 PM UTC

  Ricky D. Ro$$
  

  Ross was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of
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  Rick Ross was born in Troup, Texas moved to south Los Angeles, California with his mother. Originally interested in tennis, he pursued a scholarship while attending high school. His coach would later find out he was illiterate and removed him from the school. To make money, he turned to selling drugs to pay for tennis lessons.
  
  It was through Henry Corrales, a college friend, that Ross was introduced to cocaine.
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  Ross began distributing the cocaine around US$10,000 less per kilo than the average street price, By 1982, Ross had received his moniker of "Freeway Ricky," and is believed to have been selling over US$3 million in cocaine per day—and purchasing 440 kilos (~970 lbs) of cocaine a week.
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  up" Ross.
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  Ross took offense with rapper "Rick Ross" for using his name and identity after internal Department of Corrections records were acquired by The Smoking Gun showing Roberts' social security number as having a two year tenure as a corrections officer for the state of Florida. In Mos Def's 1999 song "Mathematics," he alludes to the link between Ross and the CIA with the lines, "Nearly half of America's largest cities is one-quarter black/ That's why they gave Ricky Ross all the crack."
  
  Rayful Edmond, III may have introduced crack cocaine to the East Coast (Washington, D. C.) but 'Freeway' Ricky Ross has the distinction of introducing crack to the West Coast (Los Angeles). Ross was also the first person to cook up powdered cocaine into 'rocks,'
  
  Ricky Donnell Ross grew up poor in Troup, Texas. He and his family moved to South Central, Los Angeles. Ross was a talented tennis player at Dorsey High in the 1970's. His dream of a college scholarship evaporated when his coach discovered he could neither read nor write.
  
  Ross got connected through a former teacher who hooked him up with a South American contact who sold Ross inexpensive amounts of cocaine. Ross would eventually head the first cocaine ring in South Central, grossing upwards to $3 million dollars per day. He invested the money in millions of dollars worth of real estate, including houses, motels, theaters and several other businesses. Ross expanded his empire to include: St. Louis, New Orleans, Texas, Kansas City, Oklahoma, Indiana and Seattle. In 1987, under pressure from a Task Force, Ross decided to retire from the drug trade and move to Cincinnati but he shelved these plans when he was approached and agreed to help a friend unload 13 kilos of cocaine, the friend offered the kilos to Ross for $10,000 per kilo. Ross started during business in New York and Miami. In 1986, Ross was arrested on federal charges in Los Angeles for conspiracy to distribute cocaine in St. Louis. The case was later dismissed for lack of evidence. In 1988, Ross allegedly attended a meeting in Kentucky, about the transportation of cocaine from Miami on an unknown date. In 1989, the DEA tried to seize assets owned by Ross that were believed to be the proceeds of drug sales. Ricky Ross also became the suspect in a bank robbery in Indianapolis, Indiana. A bank teller identified Ross from a photographic spread as the bank robber. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Indiana decline to prosecute the case. In June 1989, ten individuals, including Ross were indicted on drug charges in Cincinnati. After Ross was arrested on state charges in Los Angeles for assault on a police officer, he was transported back to Cincinnati and held without bail, pending trial on indictment. Ross pled guilty to the charges in Cincinnati and was sentenced to 121 months in prison and three years supervised release-a sentence within the guideline range. After his release, he was arrested again in 1993 on a warrant issued from Smith County, Texas, arising out of the interception of a call in 1988, which Ross agreed to supply a cousin in Tyler, Texas with two kilos of cocaine. Ross pled no contest to the Texas state charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine and was sentenced to ten years to run concurrently with his federal sentence in Ohio. He was paroled in 1994 by the state of Texas. Ross was reportedly broke, having lost his drug profits to attorney fees, shaky business deals and double-crossing rivals. Ross also stated that he learned to read and write in jail. Ross didn't keep that promise to go clean, 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. The sentence was brought to a federal court of appeals where his sentence was reduced to 20 years. Ross is eligible for parole in two 2008.
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