White Boy Rick Now – He’s suing the FBI for $100 million

Richard Wershe Jr. is a former drug dealer christened White Boy Rick by the media for his involvement in a drug scene that was predominantly black. Rick wasn’t your typical drug dealer: He was a teenager, had no territory or gang, and was white. He joined the drug trade as an informant for authorities who taught him how to deal and supplied him with drugs.

When Wershe was arrested as a 17-year-old, he thought the FBI was still protecting him. However, unbeknownst to him, the FBI had withdrawn its support. The Bureau refused to help as the court convicted Richard and sentenced him to life in prison. Richard became a free man after spending 32 years in prison. 

Richard secured release from prison in the summer of 2020. He’s missed a lot in the 32 years he’d spent in prison, including the death of his father, whom he idolized, and the birth of his grandchildren. Richard talked to CNN about the last conversation he had with his father two weeks before he passed away.

“I lost it, and it’s hard for me to talk about,” he said. “I broke down that day, and I happened to be in my counselor’s office. I had a lot of pride, and I remember the counselor, he gave me a hug and he wouldn’t let me leave his office and I just wanted to get back to my cell to be alone. He said, ‘Rick, just stay here,’ and I’ll never forget that.”

Richard started charity work in prison via Rick Wershe’s Food Drive and plans to continue helping the less fortunate in society for many years to come. Wershe also campaigns to improve foster care, mental health resources, and criminal justice systems in Detroit. 

“He’s trying to find a way to make his life – the pain and suffering that he endured – a pathway and a light to guide those so they will never ever have to deal with situations like that,” Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, a former state lawmaker, told CNN. 

Wershe works to combat inequity and steer youth away from paths that lead to incarceration. He also helps ex-convicts reintegrate into society. “Rick has continued to mushroom in this space, growing in this space of being a voice, being an advocate, giving back,” Sherry adds. “He’s a connector.”

“If I set an example and get other people to follow me, I think I’m doing more than just feeding somebody for a day,” Richard adds. Wershe is currently engaged to his long-time girlfriend, Michelle MacDonald. 

She revealed via an affidavit that Richard still suffers nightmares as memories of failed assassination attempts on his life surface as he sleeps. Nevertheless, Rick feels surrounded by love and welcomed into society. He told The Daily Mail:

“I can tell you this, I have more peace in my life now than I’ve ever had. I have been made to feel welcome and accepted. I wasn’t sure it would be that way. But a lot of people seem to feel and see I had a rough deal.”

Rick pondered for a while before instituting his suit against the FBI, ultimately deciding that the world needed to know his story. The crux of the claim is that FBI agents used him as an underage informant and turned their back on him to save themselves. 

The FBI groomed Rick to be an informant when he was only 14. The agency gave him money, drugs, and fake identification and thrust him into the drug scene as a snitch. Rick survived three assassination attempts, one of which left him with a badly damaged colon. 

“They were hoping he dies in jail,” Rick’s attorney, Nabih Ayad, said in a press conference. “They were hoping someone kills him in jail. They were hoping their story will never get out, never, because they knew what they did was wrong – morally, ethically, principally.”

Per the suit, Rick kept feeding police information while in jail, hoping that they would help secure his release. However, they disavowed him, using sealed testimony from a grand jury hearing to deny him early parole. 

After securing release from Michigan, US Marshals escorted him to Florida to serve a sentence for his participation in a car theft ring while behind bars. Rick plead guilty to the Florida charges to protect his mom and sister from incarceration. 

“They said, ‘Listen, this is what we’re going to do,’” Rick told The Daily Mail. “‘If you don’t take this plea, we’re going to arrest your mom and your sister.’ It was a forced plea. I don’t agree I committed the crime I was convicted of.”

Rick referred to the ride from Michigan to Florida as ‘the most traumatic part of almost 30 years in prison.’ Wershe has no quarrel with the current FBI, US Attorney’s office, or Detroit Police Department; he’s taken to court the retired government officials who put him in jail and conspired to keep him there. He said in a news conference:

“Listen, the justice system hasn’t been fair to me over the past 33 years. I’m hoping now that this is the last book, where I can close this chapter, go on with my life. But I think this needed to be done. I think the truth absolutely needed to be told. I think the people that did this to me needed to be held accountable.”