Rick Ross, a high-school dropout and an All-City tennis star, is one of those rare figures whose experience as a drug kingpin led him to a life of rebuilding the community he once helped destroy. His connections to the Iran-Contra scandal were first revealed in a series of articles published by the San Jose Mercury News. 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. He teaches at a Watts high school and speaks to youth about making better choices in life. In prison, he taught himself to read and write. He is writing a second book, The Freeway Boys. He lives in Long Beach, California, with his wife and children.

Cathy Scott is a veteran crime writer, award-winning investigative journalist and Los Angeles Times bestselling author who has written 10 books. Best known for penning The Killing of Tupac Shakur and The Murder of Biggie Smalls, her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, New York Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, George magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, Las Vegas Sun and Reuters. Scott taught journalism at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for five years until she went to New Orleans as an embedded reporter following Hurricane Katrina, resulting in the book Pawprints of Katrina. She has covered the mob extensively, including murdered Mafia daughter Susan Berman and racketeer "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein. Her latest books are The Millionaire's Wife and Murder in Beverly Hills. Her recent TV appearances include Investigation Discovery and VH1. Scott, who blogs about forensics and evidence for Psychology Today, is based in Las Vegas and San Diego.