17–Life Without Parole!

Rick Wershe, known as “White Boy,”was sentenced at 17 to life without parole.He was Michigan’s longest incarcerated juvenile convicted of a nonviolent offense. He was found guilty of having 650 grams of cocaine in his possession. This was Wershe’s first offense.

Wershe received this draconian sentence during the frenzied “War Against Drugs.” After Wershe served decades in prison, Michigan changed its constitution and minors could no longer be sentenced to life without parole.

On July 14th, 2017, after serving almost 30 years in prison, the Michigan Board of Parole granted his plea for parole.

Wershe stated, “Without the family and the outside support I have, I don’t know if I would be the person I am today.”

Wershe said, “I mean, they keep me up. They keep me going. They keep hope alive. They give me faith that things are going to turn out alright, and I just have to take it day by day.”

He has been described as a model prisoner during his time behind bars, with one major exception. After serving almost 20 years, He plead guilty to participating to moving stolen cars in Florida. He was sentenced to five years to be served after his release in Michigan. According to his Florida sentence, he owes 22 months to Florida.

According to Wershe,”I introduced somebody.” Wersh stated, “My sister was given $6,000, and that is the extent of it.” Wershe said it was an easy decision to plead guilty. His decision spared his mother and sister, who had purchased cars.

Wershe’s attorney is requesting leniency from Florida in light of the circumstances.

To have a proper perspective of Wershe’s unjust juvenile sentence, Retired FBI agent Gregg Schwarz, who worked with the imprisoned Wershe to arrest crooked cops and criminals, released the following statement:

“Finally, after 29 years, a juvenile who was incarcerated and deserved a sentence of between five and 10 years is finally free. The case of Richard Wershe Junior should now remain as the gold standard for city, state, and even federal government corruption. Now we can let the media tell the story behind 29 years of incarceration which involved so many in the city of Detroit.”

A movie about Wershe, the “White Boy Rick”– is set to be released Jan. 26, 2018. Matthew McConaughey is playing the role of Wershe’s father, Richard Wershe Sr. Hopefully, Wershe will see the movie outside of prison.

Posted by: Bradley Schwartz
Founder of prisonpath.com
Prison Consultant