He was only 14 years old at the time. "They look like a bunch of drunks that just didn't care, wild and crazy, but they are the best people you'd ever meet," she said, noting that her grandparents helped raise her. White Boy Rick is also a grandfather of six grandchildren. This part of the movie unfolds in almost exactly the same way.Richard Wershe Sr. was registered as the official FBI informant, but most of the intelligence was coming from his son. 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. After the collapse of the Curry brothers criminal empire, the FBI was done with Wershe Jr. as well. Rick Wershe Jr. (Richie Merritt) is a teenager examining some AK-47 automatic rifles for sale and negotiating a price with the dealer. Inspector Hill and Mayor Young, though, would walk away free. The author and historian has kept in touch with Wershe over the years and has studied his case extensively. "We were very overwhelmed," she had told WXYZ at the time. However, her father is available on Instagram under the username @rickwershe_jr and has gained over 24.9K followers. Instead of helping him, they made sure he was sent away for life. All I can give you is my word. "We were very overwhelmed," she had toldWXYZat the time. Richard Wershe Jr. was arrested in his home in 1988 with 17 pounds of cocaine. The FBI eventually arrested the Curry brothers and many of their associates and built cases against them with the information that Wershe had supplied them over the years. You tell me how its right that I served 32 years for a non-violent crime and someone who has raped or killed walks free in a few years, he told the Daily Mail. Copyright 2020 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. He was locked up at the age of 17, to originally serve a life sentence under a law since ruled unconstitutional. "It's hell on wheels," Wershe said. An ambulance arrived and blocked them from leaving. Wershe Sr. was also known as an illegal arms dealer in the black market. 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. He was locked up at the age of 17, to originally serve a life sentence under a law since ruled. Inspector Gil Hill was a minor celebrity. When he was five years old, his parents decided to separate. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. He added that Wershe's dad, Richard Wershe Sr., who was played by Matthew McConaughey, was portrayed too positively, almost heroic at times. So the FBI left Richard Wershe Jr. to fend for himself. He spent over three decades in prison, not getting the chance to spend time with his family. We cant say their name. However, he was already accustomed to the affluent life that the steady money from the FBI allowed him to lead. The siblings were raised by their father with the help of his own parents who lived across the street from them. After less than a year, his father convinced him to come back to the East Side. [7], The name "White Boy Rick" was not a street name that Wershe used himself, nor was it one he was ever called by those with whom he associated. Nate Boone Craft, the convicted hitman who claims he was hired to kill Rick Wershe Jr. Richard Wersher Jr. during his parole hearing. However, Leon was not home but the boy and his mom were. The more time he spent with Boo, the more encounters he had with Boo's older brothers, including Johnny Curry. One of the first scenes of the film, which is also featured in its trailers, shows a strung-out Dawn fighting with her father in the street in her underwear. "We heard that he was tellin', so they said, 'We got to kill that white boy.'" Wershe and his sister Dawn remained with their father, Richard Wershe Sr. (Matthew McConaughey in the movie) in the small brick house on Hampshire Street at Dickerson Avenue, seven miles from downtown. Nate Boone Craft, a hitman with thirty confirmed murders under his belt, claims that Inspector Gil Hill offered him a small fortune to kill the teenaged boy who knew too much. "I don't know what other words to use, not the way it was.". Richard Wershe Jr. was born on July 18, 1969, in Michigan to Richard Wershe Sr. and Darlene McCormick. Other than that offense, he has been described as a model prisoner. Wershe's days as a major drug dealer lasted only about a year before he was arrested. Wershe is a father of two daughters and a son. Before he went, he told both the police and the federal agency about him. 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. Dawn says that when her dad discovered Rick had $50,000 in drug money, he wanted Rick out of the drug business. However, she might be dating or might be married and might also have kids. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. RICHARD Wershe Jr., known as White Boy Rich was an undercover FBI informant in the 1980's. Yes. One gang lord, B.J. They gave chase and Wershe got off two shots using the cheap .22 revolver that Dawn had in her purse. -Documentary. Find out about Keisha Wershe and White Boy Rick Weve definitely figured out that Keisha Wershe is Richard Wershe Jr.s girl. Fact-checking the White Boy Rick movie reveals that the FBI agents portrayed by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Rory Cochrane are not directly based on real people, though they were inspired by the agents who handled Wershe as an informant. According to one anonymous FBI agent, the agency was ordered to let the mayor go. When federal agents raided Cathy's townhouse on a Friday afternoon in June 1987, they found Wershe there in bed with her. Author Free Richard Wershe Jr Rick has 3 children. Johnny was one of the most powerful drug lords in Detroits underworld and Wershe Jr. constantly provided information on him and his criminal empire. In researching the White Boy Rick true story, we learned that Wershe's activities as an off-the-books confidential FBI informant were kept under wraps at the trial, which ended with him being given a life sentence. While Michigan repealed the 650-Lifer Law that handed Richard Wershe Jr. a life sentence, he was still in prison long after other offenders were released. Like Matthew McConaughey's character in the movie, Richard Wershe Sr. was a tall, wiry man who came up with different ways to make money, including selling surplus electronics, sporting goods, satellite-TV equipment, and devices to pirate cable TV. He's very frank about it. When he was 15, Wershe Jr. was shot in the stomach by one of Johnnys associates at the latter house. He regularly spent time with the brothers and they did not suspect a thing. Rick Wershe had already taken a bullet to the stomach from another Curry Gang member. Additionally, he has a white-collar job. It was at a time when the hysteria surrounding the War on Drugs in the U.S. was nearing its peak. informant at age 14. Click On Detroit/WDIVRichard Wersher Jr. during his parole hearing. 4 4y View 3 more replies Shonda Fisher Nisley After 32 years old imprisonment, Richard went back to his long-term fiancee Michelle MacDonald whom he has been dating since middle school. He's one of the few people I've met in jail that doesn't say, 'I'm innocent.' "They said, 'Listen, this is what we're going to do. He now has a recreational marijuana business called The 8th. The White Boy Rick true story reveals that, like in the movie, it happened when Johnny Curry was in jail awaiting trial. -Crime Watch Daily, On June 8, 2017, Richard Wershe Jr., 47, was granted his first parole hearing in more than 14 years. Voice quavering, Rick Wershe Jr., who as a teen in 1980s Detroit was painted as a murderous drug kingpin, dabbed his eyes recalling one of the last conversations he had with his father, who he'd . At that time, this personality was just 17 years old. He had allegedly hid them in a box under a nearby porch. View our online Press Pack. 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 FBI investigated Gil Hill's possible role in the cover up, but no charges were ever brought against Hill. Later in 2017, he was again sentenced to five years in prison in the Florida State Jail for a 2008 auto theft conviction. The White Boy Rick true story confirms that some of these encounters did occur at the roller skating rink like in the movie. Caption: Keisha Wershes father Richard in the court. Ever since he was released, Richard Jr has been an advocate for prison reform and works with Team Wellness to help ex-convicts. However, Richard is known to have two little girls and a boy named Richard Williams. Now, his relationship is perfect. Yes. 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. He has a sister, Dawn, who is about three years older than him. I cant look back.. Richard White Boy Rick Wershe Jr. is speaking out for the first time since his release from prison this summer. When he was asked what t will be like when he hangs out with his father after his release he responded: "Honestly, I don't know, we've got some catching up to do.". The law was overturned but he was rejected as a menace to society by the Michigan Parole Board in 2003, despite (or perhaps because of) having assisted the FBI in the 1990s with a sting unsuccessfully targeting Gil Hill and drawing in the relatives of influential city politicians. After learning about White Boy RIck, find out about the unjust convictions of Richard Glossip and of Lawrence McKinney, who was given $75 to make up for 31 years of wrongful imprisonment. Though Rick didnt know it, there was a price on his head. He might have been a pimple-faced teenager who struggled to pull off a mustache but he came out in style. Yes. He made his living running scams and selling guns out of his own home. 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. 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. Then they had him thrown in prison for life. Wershe Jr. was a weight man, not a full-fledged kingpin. 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