To a generation of hip-hop fans Rick Ross is a rapper, who spins stories from his former life as a drug lord. Older fans know better. The rapper Rick Ross is really a former prison guard, who makes a good living pretending to be a criminal. The real Rick Ross, also known as Freeway Rick Ross, became famous for being one of the biggest drug dealers of the ‘80s, who was largely responsible for popularizing crack cocaine. (Freeway Rick Ross lost a lawsuit that tried to win back use of his name from the rapper Rick Ross.) Ross turned to a life of crime after his college tennis scholarship fell through, when a coach discovered he couldn’t read. In his autobiography, “Freeway Rick Ross: The Untold Story,” Ross said he initially turned to drugs to fund business ventures and fix up his car. According to Esquire magazine, Ross’ multi-state drug ring generated more than than $900 million. Ross eventually got involved with partners such as Danilo Blandon, who used drug proceeds to fund the Contras in their war against the Nicaraguan government. Blandon also had the blessing of sources within the CIA. However, the long arm of the law eventually caught up with Ross, and in 1996 he was sentenced to life in jail after being caught in a drug sting involving Blandon, who had turned government informant. Blandon was never deported for his crimes and later received a green card, even though he was a convicted felon. A federal appeals court reduced Ross’ sentence to 20 years, and he was released from jail in 2009. Ross now makes his living as an author, speaker and entrepreneur. His story has been featured in several television documentaries and in the films “Kill the Messenger” and “Crack in the System.”
You went to jail for 20 years and have been out for a while. What have you been doing?
I been running around the country educating people about the War on Drugs, literacy and financial literacy. I believe there is an art to making money. I believe that most black people haven’t been taught the principles of money.
You said you got into drug dealing to make money and thought cocaine was just a “party drug.” When did you realize the damage it was doing to the community?
Probably around ‘85-86 when I started noticing the negative effect. I started to see people getting hooked, women having sex for it, people quitting their jobs. I started to see myself as a hypocrite. I didn’t want my people to use drugs, but I was selling drugs to everyone else.
You were involved in the drug trade in the ‘80s and ‘90s. One of your associates was Danilo Blandon, who was later found to be connected to the CIA and the Contras in Nicaragua. When did you realize you were involved with something much bigger than dealing drugs?
I didn’t realize that until my trial and Gary Webb broke the story. It did surprise me the day I woke up and the CIA director was talking about me in an article. Here I was being talked about by one of the most powerful men in the world.
During the 1980s, the Reagan administration made a big deal of the War on Drugs and the “Just Say No” campaign. But it turned out that people within the government were actively involved with drug dealers. Isn’t that sort of hypocritical? Does it make you lose faith in the government?
It’s very hypocritical but worse than that, they prosecuted people (black men) in the worst position. My uncles all used to be trash men. That gave them the opportunity to take care of their families. But those jobs were taken away by privatization. They didn’t hire black men anymore. But then they bring drugs into the country.
In your book, you talk about meeting Gary Webb, the San Jose Mercury News reporter who blew the lid off the connection between the CIA and cocaine flooding urban neighborhoods. (His career was ruined by attacks from the media and he later committed suicide.) Were you surprised at what happened to him?
I was very surprised. To me it’s still shocking how someone could shoot themself in the head twice. That wasn’t the first time Gary had done something like that (an expose.) He was the first to attack the forfeiture laws. (This law allowed police to seize the property of suspected drug dealers, even if the cases were dismissed.) I was surprised by the news media. The news media is supposed to educate people. They took a stand to discredit Gary, because they didn’t break the story. Even though he’s deceased, I believe he is still alive through his words
Having been on the wrong side of the Drug War, do you think legalization is the solution to the drug problem?
Incarceration doesn’t work and the War on Drugs is a total failure. They have spent hundreds of millions of dollars (on the War on Drugs.) One prison guard makes more than a school teacher. They pay $45,000 a year to keep a guy in prison, but won’t pay him a job for $28,000.
Would you legalize all drugs, or just marijuana?
I don’t know if that’s a solution, but we know that marijuana has a medicinal benefit. There has never been anyone overdose from marijuana. It’s safe.
In the black community you became somewhat of a folk hero. Is that surprising to you?
It’s not just the black community, but the white community as well. I’m not surprised, I worked hard and educated myself to be in this position. I’m getting what I got coming.
It’s not just the black community, but the white community as well. I’m not surprised, I worked hard and educated myself to be in this position. I’m getting what I got coming.
In your book you talk about run ins with the police. Are you surprised at the recent incidences of police brutality?
I witnessed police brutality first hand. I was beaten in the head while handcuffed. I was shot at while I didn’t have a gun. I’m not surprised (by recent cases of police brutality.) It’s been building for a long time. They have made the black man out to be the villain. That allows people to do whatever they want to him.
The documentary film “Crack in the System,” features a scene where you meet former Los Angeles County Deputy Roberto Juarez. (Juarez was convicted for stealing drug money.) You were seen laughing and joking with him. How can you be at ease with someone who used to be dedicated to putting you behind bars?
I don’t think there is a need to hold a grudge. I’m not mad at Danilo Blandon (either.) It would only hurt me. I’m more focused on my life and pursuing happiness.
When you were involved in the drug business, you spent thousands on lawyers and also witnessed the inner workings of the Criminal Industrial Complex. What are your views on America’s mass incarceration of black men?
I think it’s another form of slavery. The Drug War was another way to get undesirables off the street. They came up with a way to get them off the system and that’s mass incarceration. They had slaves laws that resembled the crack laws. The pig law gave a slave a five-year minimum for stealing a pig. There were also laws for loitering.
You speak at schools and colleges and have become quite the expert on urban poverty. Do you think there is a link between poverty, race and crime? And what would your solution be to the problems plaguing Black America?
As long as we (black people) are not economically stable, we will be at others beck and call. No one is hiring black men now. Poverty is linked to crime. You take anyone and put them in a position where the family has nowhere to live and nothing to eat, and they will turn to crime. I know, I have been in that position and it’s petrifying.
This story was originally written for Salon, but they refused to publish it.
This story was originally written for Salon, but they refused to publish it.
