Rick Ross is a high-school dropout who was an All-City tennis star. The ultimate pawn in the international drug trade. Ross is recognized as a ‘pioneer’ in the crack–cocaine game in Los Angeles, as well as in other parts of the U.S., where he earned millions as an unknowing participant in CIA and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency operations. His connections to the Iran-Contra scandal were first revealed in a series of articles in the San Jose Mercury News. Convicted of conspiracy to traffic drugs and sentenced to a federal penitentiary, while in prison, he taught himself to read and write. This book tells his story.