A former drug dealer has been sworn in as an attorney by the very same judge who helped him turn his life around.

According to Fox 13 News, 16 years ago Ed Martell was a high school drop-out who ended up before a Wayne County Circuit Court on drugs charges.

Martell - who hails from Inkster in the state of Michigan - was expected to face up to 20 years behind bars. Instead, Judge Bruce Morrow saw the potential in him and granted him leniency when sentencing.

Watch Martell be sworn in by Judge Morrow here:

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After granting Martell a three-year-long probation, the judge dared him to become a CEO of a Fortune 500 company in lieu of drug dealing - words Martell himself took to heart.

That day in court was the beginning of a long journey for Martell, who then went back to school at Wayne County Community College.

Once there, he worked hard enough to prove his inherent worth and left with a full-ride scholarship to law school at the University of Detroit-Mercy.

His criminal past did not prevent him from passing the bar, and this week the now 27-year-old was sworn in as a lawyer by Morrow himself.

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Speaking on his turnaround in a later interview with Fox, Martell credited Morrow for helping him to find his purpose, stating:

"I fell victim to my environment, I guess I could say, and then it became a trend. I started hanging around with the wrong crowd, I got intertwined with the drug culture.

"I knew what I wanted to be, but when you come from a place where I came from, I didn't grow up knowing any attorneys."

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Meanwhile, Morrow himself stated that he was glad he could serve as Martell's mentor, stating: "He's 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."

Martell has settled into a new job as an attorney for Perkins Law Group in Downtown Detroit, where he hopes to make a difference in his own community and inspire others to follow in his footsteps.

Featured Image Credit: Pexels/Sora Shimazaki

Former drug dealer is sworn in as attorney by judge who challenged him to change his life