Ex-Drug Dealer Sworn In By Judge Who Gave Him Second Chance

DETROIT — Sixteen years ago, when Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow challenged Ed Martell, a defendant accused of selling drugs, to become the owner of a Fortune 500 company, Martell was inspired.

Not to own a Fortune 500 company but to one day work in the same field as Morrow.

That became a reality earlier this month when Morrow swore in Martell as an attorney in the same courtroom the two appeared in more than a decade and a half ago, FOX-2 in Detroit reported.

Martell told the news station he was a victim of his environment, growing up in Inkster, Michigan, a Detroit suburb. Inkster has a higher crime rate than about 95 percent of American cities, according to City-Data.com.

"I started hanging around with the wrong crowd, I got intertwined with the drug culture," Martell told FOX.

Martell thought he would be sentenced to prison for selling drugs when he was in Morrow’s courtroom at age 27. Instead, Morrow gave him three years of probation and the challenge that would jump-start a career in law.

"He challenged me, and he said, 'Mr. Martell, I dare you to be a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, instead of out here selling drugs,'" Martell told FOX.

Now, at 43, his swearing-in allows Martell to move forward with his new job at the Perkins Law Firm in downtown Detroit. Perkins specializes in civil cases, criminal defense and real estate transactions as a general-service law firm, according to its website.

Morrow told FOX that Martell is “like so many of the other people that come in front of us.”

"They are talented, they're brilliant, they have abilities and skills that, if you were not looking to make people's lives better and connect with them, you were only going to see the person and the offense that they're charged with."

Photos shared on FOX show Martell giving Morrow a “bear hug” after he was sworn in.

"I was certain my way it took a miracle,” Martell said. “God sent that miracle in the form of a judge behind a bench, of all places.”