Richard Wershe Jr.

For the 2018 biographical film about him, see White Boy Rick.
Richard Wershe Jr.
Wershe in 2023
Born
Richard John Wershe Jr.[1]

(1969-07-18) July 18, 1969 (age 55)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
StatusReleased on July 20, 2020
Other names"White Boy Rick"
Known forF.B.I. informant at age 14
Spending 27 years in prison for a drug offence committed when he was 17
Criminal chargePossession of cocaine in excess of eight kg Racketeering (Conspiracy to Commit)
Criminal penalty27 years imprisonment
5 years imprisonment consecutive
Children3

Richard Wershe Jr. (born July 18, 1969),[2] known as "White Boy Rick", is an American former drug trafficker and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant. The youngest known informant in the history of the FBI, Wershe became a confidential informant when he was 14 to 16 years old. 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. At the age of 17, Wershe was arrested for possession of 8 kg of cocaine and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2017, justice campaigners publicized Wershe's case and he was subsequently paroled, but directly to a prison in Florida to serve another five years for an auto theft conviction from 2008. Campaigners for Wershe have suggested to reporters that the length of his incarceration may have been connected to him having provided the FBI with information leading to the arrest of family members and associates of former Detroit mayor Coleman A. Young, as well as the allegation about Young's political ally Hill. In 2016, notorious former Detroit-based hitman Nate "Boone" Craft alleged Hill had once tried to commission the murder of Wershe.[3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ "Inmate Population Information Detail". Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Biographical information". Michigan Department of Corrections. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  3. ^ Kroll, Justin (March 3, 2017). "Newcomer Richie Merritt Lands Title Role in 'White Boy Rick' Opposite Matthew McConaughey". Variety.
  4. ^ Steve Garagiola, ClickOnDetroit Published: July 20, 2020, After 32 years behind bars, ‘White Boy Rick’ Wershe Jr. to be released Monday. retrieved 20/7/20
  5. ^ Gangster Report, One-time Detroit ‘super cop’ Gil Hill dies of lung disease, famed crime fighter never shook murder cover-up claims retrieved 20/7/20
  6. ^ Deadline Detroit, September 07, 2016, Allan Lengel Past Detroit Hit Man Claims Gil Hill Wanted Him To Kill Richard Wershe Jr retrieved 20/7/20