Richard Wershe Jr. the teen and the adult
Convicted drug trafficker Richard Wershe Jr., aka "White Boy Rick," served far more time than most bigger dope dealers in Detroit during his era in the 1980s.
He was arrested at age 17 and served about 30 years before being paroled in Michigan in 2017. But after his release, he was shipped down to Florida to serve out a sentence for being part of a car theft ring while in prison there around 2006. He got involved in the car ring while he was incarcerated in Florida prison as part of the witness protection program after he helped the Detroit FBI bust crooked Detroit and suburban cops and Mayor Coleman A. Young's common-law brother-in-law in a drug and money laundering sting.
In Florida, Wershe, 49,was scheduled for release in April 2021.
But now, he's getting a little break, according to a report by Sarah Rahal of The Detroit News.
Wershe is now scheduled to get released Nov. 25, 2020 due to good time.
His attorney, Ralph Musilli, tells the paper:
"November 2020 is the official out date when he will finish his sentence in Florida, but we had a commutation hearing set on Dec. 5, to get him out earlier. But the board in Florida is made up of the governor, treasurer and two others... two out of the four went to George HW Bush's funeral so they canceled the hearing and we're trying to get it rescheduled."
Wershe's story has been the subject of a documentary, "White Boy," and a recent movie, "White Boy Rick," that featured Matthew McConaughey playing Wershe's father, Richard Wershe Sr.
-- Allan Lengel
