disinfozone/The_Info_Web
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull requests Projects Releases Packages Wiki Activity Actions

vault backup: 2026-09-22 22:51:38

Browse source
This commit is contained in:
disinfo.zone 2026-09-22 22:51:38 -04:00
parent d4b588b218
commit 4dd04a9dab
No known key found for this signature in database
108 changed files with 2308 additions and 1071 deletions
Download patch file Download diff file Expand all files Collapse all files

3
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ricky Ross.md
View file

@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ In late September 1995, Webb visited Ross at the [[Metropolitan Correctional Cen
Ross's federal trial began in March 1996 in San Diego before Judge Marilyn Huff. Prosecutor [[LJ Oneale]] filed a motion to prevent any mention of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] at trial, writing: "This matter, if true, would be classified." Defense attorney Alan Fenster fought to obtain government records about Blandón's Contra connections but was repeatedly denied. Blandón testified for the prosecution, admitting that [[Norwin Meneses|Meneses]] had recruited him to sell cocaine for the Contras but claiming variously that he stopped in 1983, 1984, or 1982. Government documents showed Blandón was still selling cocaine for the Contras through 1986.[^12]
Ross was convicted of cocaine trafficking in the spring of 1996. Juror Norman Brown said: "None of us liked Blandón. A few of the jurors were very upset that he is used by law enforcement." Another juror said: "Blandón made us all so angry that we would use that kind of sleazeball. We wanted to acquit Ricky Ross just to give the message to the government that we disagreed with the use of Blandón." Ross was sentenced to life without parole, later reduced by a federal appeals court to twenty years to life. At sentencing, Fenster asked for a postponement, citing the [[Dark Alliance|Dark Alliance series]], and Judge Marilyn Huff told prosecutor LJ Oneale she wanted answers from the CIA before passing sentence.[^13]
Ross was convicted of cocaine trafficking in the spring of 1996. Juror Norman Brown said: "None of us liked Blandón. A few of the jurors were very upset that he is used by law enforcement." Another juror said: "Blandón made us all so angry that we would use that kind of sleazeball. We wanted to acquit Ricky Ross just to give the message to the government that we disagreed with the use of Blandón." Ross was sentenced to life without parole. In 1998 the [[Ninth Circuit]] held that the life term under the federal three-strikes law was in error and remanded for resentencing on one predicate offense; on May 3, 2002, the district court resentenced him to 240 months and six years of supervised release. The appeals court upheld that sentence in 2004 and rejected his claim that the government's failure to disclose that INS agent [[Robert Tellez]] had obtained Blandón's permanent residency in violation of the law had prejudiced his entrapment defense.[^15] At sentencing, Fenster asked for a postponement, citing the [[Dark Alliance|Dark Alliance series]], and Judge Marilyn Huff told prosecutor LJ Oneale she wanted answers from the CIA before passing sentence.[^13]
Ollie Newell had been convicted of drug charges in Indiana in the late 1980s and released from prison in 1997.[^2]
@ -181,3 +181,4 @@ Ollie Newell had been convicted of drug charges in Indiana in the late 1980s and
[^12]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 26: "That matter, if true, would be classified"
[^13]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 27: "A very difficult decision"
[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: A Review of the Justice Department's Investigations and Prosecutions.* December 1997, chapter VI. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/special/9712/
[^15]: *United States v. Ross,* 372 F.3d 1097 (9th Cir. 2004), No. 02-50226, citing *United States v. Brown,* 163 F.3d 608, 1998 WL 650266 (9th Cir. 1998) (unpublished). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/786678/united-states-v-ricky-d-ross/