'White Boy Rick' Gets Parole Hearing Date

DETROIT, MI — Richard Wershe Jr., better known as “White Boy Rick,” will get another shot at parole. The former teenage drug dealer will have a public parole hearing on June 8 at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson. Wershe was last up for parole in 2012.

Wershe has spent 29 years behind bars after being charged with stashing eight kilos of high-grade powdered cocaine and nearly $30,000 in 1987, the Detroit Free Press reported. He is serving life with the possibility of parole for possession with intent to deliver more than 650 grams of cocaine, a crime he committed when he was 17, the newspaper reported.

Wershe’s last public hearing before the parole board came in 2003, the Free Press reported. He was denied parole that year and again in 2007 and 2012. As to whether he’s released, Wayne County Prosecutor is leaving it up to the parole board, the Free Press reported.

Because of the years he has spent in jail for the drug offense and the help he provided authorities over the years, Wershe’s case has dawn national attention. Actor Matthew McConaughey will star in a movie about Wershe and the case.

He was used by law enforcement to infiltrate the drug trade starting at age 14, the Free Press reported. Wershe told the newspaper that he worked for law enforcement for a couple years then sold drugs for 11 months on his own. Wershe also aided law enforcement while in prison and helped put corrupt police officers behind bars, an FBI agent has said.

Wershe was in prison in Florida in the federal witness protection program because of his cooperation, the Free Press reported. While behind bars there, he was accused of being involved in a stolen-car scheme, pleaded guilty to two felonies and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2006. He still has time to serve in that case, the newspaper reported.

Wershe is currently doing time at the Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee. He, told the Free Press in February that he thinks he has a fair shot at being paroled. "You don't want to get your hopes up," Wershe said. "But at the same time, you don't want to lose hope."

Photo by Jobs For Felons Hub via Flickr Commons