
His sentence was later reduced to 20 years after a successful appeal based on the logic that numerous charges for which he was jailed actually constituted one “ continuous criminal spree.” He was then released on parole Sept. Since the conviction was his third, the punishment was mandated by law. The former dealer, who began dealing crack cocaine in early 1980s Los Angeles near Interstate 110, would go on to make hundreds of millions of dollars selling drugs.Īlthough Freeway Ricky spent much of that era in and out of prison - where he learned to read and write - he wasn't sentenced to life until 1996 when he was convicted in a federal sting operation of purchasing more than 100 kilograms of cocaine.


“If somebody steals something from you and it takes you 10 years to catch him, if it has all the makings on it that it’s yours, how can you not be made to give it back?” “It’s kinda weird to take someone’s name and identity and claim it as their own,” reformed drug kingpin “Freeway” Ricky Donnell Ross told comedian Joe Rogan during a 2013 podcast.
