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 has three children, including a son named Richard Williams. Copyright 2023 ClickOnDetroit.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. During the screening of "White Boy Rick," the Hollywood adaptation of his father's life, back in 2018, he told the outlet that his dad was smarter and more caring than what the movie had portrayed. Rick dressed in tracksuits and wore pricey Fila sneakers. Free Richard Wershe Jr. Albums. "I never set out to make Rick look like a bigger drug dealer than he was," says investigative journalist Chris Hansen, who helped popularize the White Boy Rick persona. Wershe, now 52, spent three. He was a witness for the FBI when he was between 14 and 16 years old. Instead of helping him, they made sure he was sent away for life. But a lot of people seem to feel and see I had a rough deal. Therefore, it was a crime convicted while he was still behind the bars. The more time he spent with Boo, the more encounters he had with Boo's older brothers, including Johnny Curry. F.B.I. An ambulance arrived and blocked them from leaving. Now hes a 51-year-old man free from prison and back in Michigan. Rick bought a house down the street and kept selling drugs, mainly crack cocaine. Richard Wershe is also called White Boy Rick. Keisha Wershe is known for being the girl of renowned street pharmacist Richard Wershe Jr. Richard Wershe Jr. is an American street pharmacist and a former witness for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It wont be easy. In addition to driving a Jeep that blatantly referenced his life as an up-and-coming cocaine dealer, Richard Wershe Jr. wore chains and tracksuits, a belt made of gold, a mink coat (given to him by Johnny Curry), and a Rolex with diamonds encircling it. Hollywood went to work making a film version of White Boy Ricks life, while an HBO documentary crew moved into the prison to film a tell-all about his story. Wershe's 30-year-old son sat next to me at a screeening Thursday night in Novi for the . The Estimated Net worth is $80K USD $85k. However, he wasn't a drug kingpin by any stretch, as trailers for the movie label him. . Thats because White Boy Rick wasnt a drug lord he was an FBI informant. All the things I guess you expect after 32 years.". 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. "I don't know what other words to use, not the way it was.". Wershe's life story was turned into a true-crime documentary called "White Boy" that was picked up by Netflix. Despite the Michigan Parole Board voting unanimously to grant Richard Wershe Jr. his freedom in 2017 after spending 29 years in prison, the then 47-year-old still had time to serve in Florida for a separate offense. Curry, Rick found out, had slipped Inspector Hill a $10,000 bribe. Did his involvement in helping the FBI expose corrupt cops and city officials lead to him being denied parole for 29 years? Both had worked for Chrysler for four decades. -Crime Watch Daily, On June 8, 2017, Richard Wershe Jr., 47, was granted his first parole hearing in more than 14 years. The FBI covered their tracks. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt, Eddie Marsan, Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media, White Boy Rick Documentary & Related Videos, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. "Well, they never really say (what drug it is)," Dawn told WXYZ reporter Carolyn Cliffordwhen asked about the drugs. 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. Richard Wershe Jr. was good at what he did. [15] Wershe Jr. got involved in the world of crime through a petty criminal named Terrence Bell, with whom his sister was in a relationship at the time. Further investigate the White Boy Rick true story by watching the Richard Wershe Jr. documentary below. Thats why her height, weight, eye color, hair color, etc are unavailable on the internet till today. However, lets hope Keisha might be living a happy life. 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. "He's very frank about who he is and what he did," actor Matthew McConaughey said during a CinemaCon interview. Find out about Keisha Wershe and White Boy Rick Weve definitely figured out that Keisha Wershe is Richard Wershe Jr.s girl. Wershe, who was caught with more than eight kilograms in his possession, was way past that mark.In 1998, the law was amended to retroactively allow for the chance of parole. Assistant State Attorney General Scott Rothermel asked him why the police report indicates that less than thirty thousand dollars was confiscated. White Boy Rick is also a grandfather of six grandchildren. Though Rick didnt know it, there was a price on his head. It was wonderful. The answer could be one that the city still isn't willing to face. He went above and beyond what the FBI asked him to do. -The Atavist Magazine, Rick's sister Dawn was dating a small-time criminal named Terrence Bell and she had become involved with crack cocaine. Local 4 News every morning. He vouched for an undercover FBI agent who posed as his supplier from Miami. -Detroit Free Press. They controlled the drug operations in Wershe Jr.s neighbourhood in Detroits East Side. 8:08 am. He had been assigned to show the movie's director, Martin Brest, around Detroit. A film based on his life titled White Boy Rick was released Sept. 14, 2018. "[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." Fact-checking the White Boy Rick movie confirmed that he had dropped out of high school by the spring of 1985, prior to his sixteenth birthday. When he was released from prison in Michigan in 2017, Wershe walked out of the prison and right into a prison transport van. 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. Cover photos. Wershe's life story was turned into a true-crime documentary called "White Boy" that was picked up by Netflix. Wershe Jr. first became acquainted with Rudell "Boo" Curry, the younger brother of Leo and Johnny. However, she might be dating or might be married and might also have kids. The end result of three hours of questioning was a ruling in Wershe Jr.'s favor. This is in addition to trying to get his numerous inventions off the ground. It was a bit of stretch. 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. Al Profit/YouTubeNate Boone Craft, the convicted hitman who claims he was hired to kill Rick Wershe Jr. As Richard Wershe Sr. put it: I took the money. -Crime Watch Daily, Wershe, who was 17 at the time, was arrested for possession with intent to deliver more than eight kilograms of cocaine. Wershe says that he was given new lawyers who had worked for Mayor Coleman Young. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. Rick's daughter and oldest grandson. Is it peculiar that he gets released same year that we're makin' a movie that shines a little spotlight on him? The biggest confiscation occurred on East Side, where the Curry brothers were in charge. I became addicted to that life." It was journalism that saved him. "We were portrayed in the film aslow-class dirt poorscuzz bags," she said. Where is Richard Wershe Jr Now, Kids - Daughter Son . Furthermore, Richard's father was also an FBI . (He's) happy, healthy and excited (and) emotional. Cathy Volsan (Johnny Curry's wife who was also the mayor's niece) was eager to get back into the cocaine business and offered the police assistance. Johnny was one of the most powerful drug lords in Detroits underworld and Wershe Jr. constantly provided information on him and his criminal empire. Even now, the only trade Wershe knows is crime. White Boy Rick is another name for Richard Wershe. The White Boy Rick true story confirms that some of these encounters did occur at the roller skating rink like in the movie. His mom, Darlene, left Detroit's East Side and moved to the suburbs. After his release, he went back to his long-term fiancee Michelle Macdonald whom he has been dating since middle school. 9 items. All rights reserved (About Us). In September 2018, Local 4 shared a special documentary report on the life of Wershe, the now infamous figure in Detroits drug scene in the 1980s. 8 items. All the things I guess you expect after 32 years.". "We were very overwhelmed," she had told WXYZ at the time. Date Published: 5/10/2022. Wershe is now engaged to his longtime girlfriend. Wershe Sr. was rapidly losing his hold on both of his children. We cant say their name. 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 . After 32 years in detention, he is back with his long-term fiance Michelle MacDonald, whom he has been dating since high school. -Documentary. He regularly spent time with the brothers and they did not suspect a thing. It was a significant amount, but it wasn't the hundreds of kilos that Detroit's drug kingpins were moving at the time. Wershe's son, Richard Williams who goes by simply Rich W is a University of Michigan graduate. No. California mom 'didnt hit brakes' before driving SUV off 100ft cliff with daughter in fatal plunge, Kim Jong-un creates entire college focused on building hypersonic nuke missiles to wipe out the West, Drunk girl loses her front TEETH during boozy bottomless brunch after TikTok stunt ends in disaster, Moderna Covid vaccine could be reserved for young people amid AstraZeneca blood clot fears, says expert, Ukrainian playboy 'behind Dubai naked photoshoot' is pictured with Hillary Clinton and made Obama campaign donation, Neighbours are battling against a bid to demolish a 'perfectly good' four-bed house to make way for a cycle path, was released from prison in Florida, on July 20, 2020. The man who shot him had claimed it was an accident but Rick had his suspicions that there were people out to get him. Wershe spent nearly three decades behind bars in Michigan for a non-violent drug offense. According to Deadline Detroit, Rich, who is in his 30s, has a white-collar job. Wershe earned his parole in 2017 after nearly 30 years in prison. The order came down the pipe that the nation didnt want to deal with another news story about a corrupt mayor: Washington didnt want another Marion Barry, the Washington D.C. mayor who had recently been caught dealing crack. No, at least not according to Rick's real-life sister, Dawn. Keisha Wershe is known for being the girl of renowned street pharmacist Richard Wershe Jr. Richard Wershe Jr. is an American street pharmacist and a former witness for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There is no information about Keishas relationship history. They put up pictures of a criminal hierarchy, and each one showed 17-year-old White Boy Rick at the top of the ladder with every dangerous, hardened criminal in the city listed as his underling. When he was five years old, his parents decided to separate. However, after Wershe Jr. became an FBI informant, money began to flow in as they paid him for information. The gun jammed. They caught him with 17 pounds of cocaine. He looks great. "It was a forced plea. Rick Wershe Jr Daughter Keisha; Born: Richard John Wershe Jr. [1] July 18, 1969 (age 51) Status: released on July 20, 2020: Known for: F.B.I.