Attorneys for convicted drug trafficker Richard Wershe Jr. on Wednesday will ask a Florida judge to change his sentence down there from consecutive to concurrent, WDIV's Kevin Dietz reports. He was convicted there of being part of a car theft ring while he was behind bars.
If successful, Wersehe, aka "White Boy Rick," would be given credit for time served and not have to go down to Florida to serve about 22 months.
In the late 1980s, Wershe, who was in his late teens, began serving a life sentence in Michigan for cocaine trafficking. After nearly 30 years in prison, the Michigan Parole Board granted him parole on July 14, saying he could go free within 90 days.
But there'ss a sticking point.
Wershe, now 48, pleaded guilty in Florida in 2005 for being part of a car theft ring while he was housed in a federal prison there as part of the witness protection program for helping the FBI in a sting in Michigan. He was sentenced to five years and has since been given 488 days of credit for time served. He was ordered to serve it after he finished his Michigan time.
He would be entitled to good time credit once he begins serving time there, which would bring the sentence to about 22 months.
The Florida Department of Corrections parole decision issued a statement last month to Deadline Detroit saying that it intends to arrange for Wershe to serve his time.
Richard Wershe’s Florida sentence is consecutive to the Michigan sentence. As such, Wershe still has five years to serve with the Department, less 488 days credited by the court for pre-sentence time served in accordance with FS 921.161. If released from Michigan, the Department will arrange for him to return to Florida to serve the Martin County sentence.
Wershe's attorneys hope to make it all go away so Wershe can soon be a free man.
In addition to asking a judge for a break, Wershe's legal team will ask the Florida governor and attorney general to make an executive decision to let Wershe go free, arguing that he's served enough time and that state taxpayers shouldn't have to bother paying for Wershe's imprisonment.
Wershe tells WDIV that if he has to go to Florida, he wants to get started as soon as possible.
"I just want to get down there and get it over with. If I have to go, I have to go," he said. "I'm not going to avoid it. I just want to go get started, get settled in and get started doing the time."
