Richard Donnell "Freeway Rick" Ross is an American author and convicted drug trafficker best known for the drug empire he established in Los Angeles, California, in the early to mid 1980s. He was sentenced to life in prison, though the sentence was shortened on appeal and Ross was released in 2009.
Ross appeared in VH1's documentary Planet Rock History of Crack and Hip Hop and was featured in an episode of Bet's American Gangster, which focused on the Contra drug scandal. Recognized as a pawn in the drug game, Ross was a pioneer in the Los Angeles crack cocaine trade, where he made millions as an unknowing participant of CIA and US Drug Enforcement Agency operatives offering him unlimited amounts of cocaine.