He went above and beyond what the FBI asked him to do. The judge, who commented that Wershe looked like the bank robber Baby Face Nelson, went on to say that "as far as the court is concerned, he's worse than a mass murderer." Wershe earned his parole in 2017 after nearly 30 years in prison. White Boy Ricks father, Richard Wershe Sr., wasnt a man who lived entirely within the law. By the time he turned 15, he was skipping school by the day and spending the nights at the clubs, gathering Information for the FBI. About a year later, he moved back in with his father. Richard 'White Boy Rick' Wershe Jr. (Michigan Department of Corrections) After spending nearly three decades in prison, infamous former drug kingpin Richard Wershe Jr . "We heard that he was tellin', so they said, 'We got to kill that white boy.'" He vouched for an undercover FBI agent who posed as his supplier from Miami. In the spring of 1984, FBI agents knocked on the Wershes' door, intending to gather information from Rick's dad. He took up with the Curry Gang, the foremost drug slingers in Detroit at the time, and made friends with dangerous criminals so that he could get better information. For the first time in 30 years, White Boy Ricks name was back in the headlines but this time, the real story was printed underneath. But according to Dawn, just about all of the family dynamics portrayed in the movie are wrong. OK? Despite this, he was relocated to Florida State Prison to serve another sentence for his involvement in a car theft ring. During a screening of White Boy Rick in 2018, he let the power source know that his father was smarter and more aware than he was portrayed in the film. He was forced to find a way to navigate the streets and make ends meet without the FBIs protection, which wasnt easy. The biggest confiscation occurred on East Side, where the Curry brothers were in charge. In the 1980s, he gained notoriety in the streets of Detroit under the moniker White Boy Rick. Richard was born in a working-class family that lived in a neighborhood on the east side of Detroit. Wershe spent nearly three decades behind bars in Michigan for a non-violent drug offense. According to FBI Agent John Anthony, at that time, White Boy Rick was the single most productive informant the FBI had in Detroit. I was brought into this life by law enforcement, Richard Wershe Jr. reported to Vice, I was taught it, they left me alone, and a year later Im busted and put in jail for life.. She eventually remarried. -WXYZ-TV Detroit, Yes. He said, 125,000, Ill make sure you get it as long as that boy is dead. His keyword, Dead. This came from Gil Hills mouth to me.. Finally, in July 2020, he was released from care in Florida after completing his sentence with proper conduct credits. However, her father is available on Instagram under the username @rickwershe_jr and has gained over 24.9K followers. The guy's girlfriend came home and called 911 when she saw Wershe writhing on the floor. Even though he was dreading the transport process, Wershe said he wanted to start as soon as possible. I became addicted to that life." He was then transferred to a Florida prison because of a crime he committed while behind bars in Michigan. "It was a forced plea. It turned into a stolen car ring, and Wershe pleaded guilty to protect his sister and mother from criminal charges. On the one-year anniversary of his release from prison after 32 years, Richard Wershe Jr. filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing former FBI agents, ex-Detroit police officers and former federal. Later in 2017, he was again sentenced to five years in prison in the Florida State Jail for a 2008 auto theft conviction. Wershe was released from a Florida prison in July, ending his 32 years behind bars that started after a drug trafficking arrest at 17 years old in 1987. When he was 15, Wershe Jr. was shot in the stomach by one of Johnnys associates at the latter house. His attorney, Ralph. The answer could be one that the city still isn't willing to face. And I thought it was the right thing keep some drug dealers off the street and get paid for it.. While his father did not recognize them, Wershe Jr. did. Spending 27 years in prison for a drug offence committed when he was 17. Coleman Young, the Detroit mayor who was allegedly involved in the police corruption scandal exposed by Rick Wershe Jr. Yes. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Richard Wershe, Jr. (Photo: Darlene Carr) The agents decided then and there to make an informant recruitment. I cant look back.. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. We have no more Information about his Father; we will try to collect information and update soon. Learn more. Before he went, he told both the police and the federal agency about him. White Boy Rick, a film based on his life, was released on September 14, 2018. Richard was sentenced to life in prison in Michigan under the states 650-Lifer Law. Steve Garagiola, ClickOnDetroit At the age of 17, White Boy was arrested for possession of 8 kg of cocaine and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. British actress Bel Powley portrays Dawn in the film, which hit theaters nationwide on Sept. 14. "I was on one for a week, and it's the most traumatic part of almost 30 years in prison.". He became the longest-serving nonviolent juvenile offender in Michigan history. Lured by their wealth and expensive things he had only seen in magazines, Rick started spending time with Johnny. -The Atavist Magazine, Yes. Johnny Curry, the so-called "cocaine king of the East Side," was freed 18 years before Wershe (Curry had been sentenced in Federal Court and wasn't subjected to Michigan's harsh laws that were in place at the time). Wershe Jr. has stated that although his father knew that he was still meeting with the FBI, he never realised how far the agency had gotten him involved with the Curry brothers. The law enforcement to which hes referring are the FBI agents who came to his door for his father in 1984. "We were very overwhelmed," she had toldWXYZat the time. Rick Wershe Jr. (Richie Merritt) is a teenager examining some AK-47 automatic rifles for sale and negotiating a price with the dealer. The parole board was well-aware of the Matthew McConaughey movie, which had been filming in Las Vegas the night before the hearing. It was back in 1987 that Richard was caught having more than eight kilograms (18 pounds) of cocaine. As Richard Wershe Sr. put it: I took the money. Craft, years later, told reporters: I was told to kill White Boy Rick. This is in addition to trying to get his numerous inventions off the ground. Wershe says that the FBI barely scratched the surface of how deep the corruption ran, and releasing him meant that the truth might come out. A merciless 1978 law in Michigan known as the 650-Lifer Law mandated life in prison without parole for being caught with more than six hundred and fifty grams of cocaine or heroin. Eventually, he began dealing, not under Johnny's watch, but on his own, and his trajectory was set.He started bringing in more and more money from selling drugs, eventually cutting out the middle men and having cocaine delivered directly from suppliers in Miami. According to Deadline Detroit, Rich, who is in his 30s, has a white-collar job. Chambers, praised White Boy Ricks climb up to the top: He rose all the way through the ranks. -The Atavist Magazine, Yes. He had an affair with Johnnys wife, Cathy Volsan, who was an influential figure in Detroit at the time, being the niece of Mayor Coleman Young. They were seen stepping out together but Wershe says that the relationship was tumultuous. The film starring Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey tells the fact-based story of Richard Wershe Jr., a Detroit teenager who became an undercover informant for the FBI during. Wershe was arrested but the cop never showed up for the trial. I don't think so. 14:51 Richard Wershe Jr. is about to experience freedom for the first time in his adult life. The true crime author believes that Wershe was jailed for an unjust length of time, especially considering the fact that he was groomed by the government at such an early age. "I think everything went really well and he looks forward to everything that he has ahead of him.. When federal agents raided Cathy's townhouse on a Friday afternoon in June 1987, they found Wershe there in bed with her. RICHARD Wershe Jr., known as White Boy Rich was an undercover FBI informant in the 1980's. Richard Wershe Sr. tried to get the FBI to help his son but they refused to say a word. It began airing on the Starz network in 2019 and was picked up by Netflix in April 2021. As a result of both the impending film and the White Boy documentary that had just been released, interest in Wershe Jr. had been on the rise, so much so that a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections was on hand doing live TV interviews before 7 a.m. on the morning of the 9 a.m. hearing. When he followed up with the FBI, Hughes found out that Wershe was telling the truth. He did what the FBI taught him to do. After Richard Wershe Jr. is paroled in Michigan, he'll immediately be transferred to prison in Florida, where he's expected to spend the next 3 years and 8 months. He added that Wershe's dad, Richard Wershe Sr., who was played by Matthew McConaughey, was portrayed too positively, almost heroic at times. This image released by Sony Pictures shows and Matthew McConaughey, left, and Richie Merritt in a scene from "White Boy Rick." -White Boy Documentary, Yes. McConaughey plays their father, Richard Wershe Sr., who raised his kids on the east side of Detroit. Dawn's heroin use is a major characteristic of her character in the film. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()), Victoria Persinger Wiki, Biography, Age, Spouse, Net Worth, Fast Facts, Jeremy Hartwell Wiki, Biography, Age, Spouse, Net Worth, Fast Facts. "We were very overwhelmed," McDonlad said. The same offense today would only carry a max sentence of three years in prison. His connection with the Curry family immensely helped him in his pursuit to gather more and more information on the drug activities in his neighbourhood and the city at large. At the age of 14, the FBI taught Wershe how to deal drugs and planted him inside one of the citys most dangerous gangs. A close childhood friend of Rick's said that in the case of Rick's father, the almighty buck ranked above morals. 108 items. Police had found the drugs stashed near Wershe's house after a traffic stop. April 2, 2021 'White Boy' is a true-crime documentary that looks into the life of Richard "White Boy Rick" Wershe Jr. Other than that offense, he has been described as a model prisoner. Wershe in fact helped with the largest public corruption case in Detroit's history at the time. He and his sister subsequently stayed with their father. After the collapse of the Curry brothers criminal empire, the FBI was done with Wershe Jr. as well. According to the White Boy documentary, he did go to stay with his mother for the eighth grade when he was 13, but he didn't get along with her new husband and he was still in contact with his dad. When he was 15, Wershe told the FBI that a major drug dealer had spoken of paying a bribe to Detroit detective inspector and subsequent city council president and mayoral candidate Gil Hill in order to quash the investigation into a 13-year-old boy's murder. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Hed even taken his girlfriend, Cathy Volsan, the mayors niece. This picture of him is a still from his role in the movie. "Everything went as planned. The man who shot him had claimed it was an accident but Rick had his suspicions that there were people out to get him. He hawked surplus electronics, satellite TV equipment, sporting goods, and devices to pirate cable TV. + View More Here. Richard Wershe Jr.'s daughter, Kiesha Wershe, is a well-known drug dealer. Under the law at that time, it was supposed to cost him the rest of his life, which is just ridiculous. "It was all about Rick. His wife, Cathy Volsan (Mayor Coleman Young's niece), 24, began having an affair with Wershe, then 17. "It's hell on wheels," Wershe said. "[The film] said that my dad couldn't handle us kids and that he had Rick sell drugs because he couldn't cut the mustard to pay the bills, and that's the farthest thing, farthest thing from the truth." Yes. On paper, they recorded White Boy Ricks tips under his fathers name. Richard Wershe Jr. was good at what he did. A member of Johnny Curry's crew shot Wershe in the stomach with a .357 when Wershe was 15. The siblings were raised by their father with the help of his own parents who lived across the street from them. Later in the year 2017, Richard was again sentenced to 5 years in prison at Florida State prison on a 2008 car theft ring conviction. (He's) happy, healthy and excited (and) emotional. September 14, 2018, 1:43 AM by Allan Lengel. White Boy Rick knew this was because Johnny Curry was connected to Detroit Mayor Coleman Young; in fact, the king of Detroit crime, Johnny Curry, dated the mayors niece Cathy Volsan. An ambulance arrived and blocked them from leaving. The real White Boy Rick did conspire with major players in the local Detroit drug trade. To put a 14-year-old boys life at risk wasnt exactly FBI protocol but White Boy Rick as Wershe then began to call himself was too useful to let go. The baby-faced little white boy, the news said, wasnt just a drug dealer. "Were there some exaggerations? In Detroit in the 80s, everyone knew when White Boy Rick was around. ", No. "He's no saint. White Boy Rick was still a few days shy of his 18th birthday when the Detroit police broke down his front door. The more time he spent with Boo, the more encounters he had with Boo's older brothers, including Johnny Curry. "Where did the drugs come from? The explanation could be for welfare or safety reasons. Further investigate the White Boy Rick true story by watching the Richard Wershe Jr. documentary below. Wershe is a father of two daughters and a son. Under the much-criticized 650-Lifer Law, Richard was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, despite being a non-violent offender. Dawn says that when her dad discovered Rick had $50,000 in drug money, he wanted Rick out of the drug business. Wershe is a father of two daughters and a son. Richard " White Boy Rick " Wershe Jr. is speaking out for the first time since his release from prison this summer. This plays out a little differently in the movie, with them running out of a restaurant and shooting at the carjacker while standing the parking lot. He went as part of Curry's entourage, there to attend the Hearns vs. Hagler boxing match at Caesar's Palace (like in the film, they never got into the match). Starring newcomer Richie Merritt and Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey, the film tells the incredible true story of Richard (White Boy Rick) Wershe, Jr., the longest-serving non-violent juvenile offender in the American prison system. Free Richard Wershe Jr. Albums. It didn't help that Rick's father would leave the kids alone to go out of town to do business.The reigning drug operation in Rick's East Side neighborhood was run by twin brothers Leo 'Big Man' Curry and Johnny 'Lil Man' Curry, who lived just across the I-94 from the Wershes. Agent Gregg Schwarz would later admit: We brought him into the drug world. But where is the equity in a system that puts non-violent criminals away while killers walk free?, Read more: White Boy Rick Wershe Jr. to return to Metro Detroit after release. -White Boy Documentary. Source: Instagram. [7] Wershe's father was also an FBI informant and first reported to the police and the federal agency alongside him before going solo. He attended a local high school but abandoned his education in 1985, right before his 16th birthday. Richard Wershe Jr. mugshot for Florida Department of Corrections, Detroit historian: White Boy Rick Wershe prison release way overdue. Basically, Gil told him not to worry about anything. And what happened? The 1980s witnessed Americas war on drugs combating a new enemy, crack cocaine. See All. While the people hed exposed were sent free, Wershe stayed behind bars and spent the bulk of his life in a jail cell. Having just turned 51 years old, Wershe began a new chapter in life together with his fiance Michelle McDonald, whom he began dating in middle school. Local 4 News every morning. Free Richard Wershe Jr Rick S Daughter And Oldest Grandson Facebook He was arrested of a drug crime and spent 32 years in prison.. Advertisement Kiesha Wershe is the daughter of the famous. He was looking forward to taking another step toward his final release. But the news made him bigger than he was because the police were out for blood. However, he was already accustomed to the affluent life that the steady money from the FBI allowed him to lead. Wershe Jr. first became acquainted with Rudell "Boo" Curry, the younger brother of Leo and Johnny. Events. Richard White Boy Rick Wershe Jr. is speaking out for the first time since his release from prison this summer. Became the longest-serving nonviolent juvenile offender in Michigan for a drug offence committed when he was already accustomed the! 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