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Michigan man featured on Netflix series 'Dope' sentenced for drug trafficking

Posted at 12:59 PM, Jun 18, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-18 14:59:40-04

DETROIT — A Troy, Michigan, man who was featured on Netflix's series "Dope" was sentenced to three to 20 years in prison on drug trafficking charges. Ryan James Zettell, 21, was arrested in February for drug trafficking throughout Oakland County and surrounding communities.

"Dope" is a Netflix docuseries about the war on drugs from the perspective of drug users, sellers and law enforcement.

Zettell pleaded guilty to six charges; three counts of Controlled Substance - Delivery/Manufacture (Cocaine, Heroin, or another narcotic) less than 50 grams, two counts of Controlled Substance - Delivery/Manufacture (Ecstasy/MDMA), and one count of Controlled Substance - Delivery/Manufacture (Cocaine, Heroin, or another narcotic) less than 25 grams.

It started when the Oakland County Narcotic Enforcement Team got a tip in July 218 which identified Zettell as a Troy-area drug trafficker. The tip also said he was featured on "Dope" during season 2, episode 3, which focused on metro Detroit. In the episode, he mentioned he wanted to go into criminal justice and had a street name of "Ozone."

Detectives were able to conduct undercover buys and surveillance and arranged many purchases of both cocaine and MDMA, known as "Molly."

Then, they obtained search warrants where they witnessed Zettell conducting illegal activities.

During a raid, they found a Kimber .45 weapon, one gram of cocaine and $7,195 in U.S. currency. During his arrest, they found a backpack with digital scales, 62 acid tablets, 29 grams of Molly, a gram of cocaine and a laptop.

After his arrest, he admitted to deputies he was on the Netflix series.

This story was originally published on WXYZ .