White Boy Rick wins bid to be resentenced

Richard Wershe Jr., who gained notoriety during the 1980s in Detroit as a young, flamboyant drug dealer known as White Boy Rick, won his bid for resentencing Friday.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Dana Hathaway made the ruling in her Detroit courtroom during a brief appearance by Wershe, who has spent 27 years in prison for the crime he committed when he was 17.

She said her decision is based on the “case law governing juvenile defenders and the evolution of the drug crime penalties since defendant was incarcerated.”

Wershe, 46, sat quietly and stoic in the courtroom wearing green jail garb as more than two dozen people watched, including his mother and 27-year-old son. He expressed no emotion coming in or leaving the courtroom in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice where about a dozen reporters and several photographers were gathered for the hearing.

“The court is not ruling that a parolable life sentence for this crime is unconstitutional,” Hathaway said. “It’s simply saying that he’s entitled to be resentenced with consideration given to his youth and circumstances surrounding the crime.”

Resentencing is set for Sept. 18 at 9 a.m.

Wayne County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Timothy Baughman said an appeal will be filed with the Court of Appeals in the case and asked the court to halt further proceedings until the appeal is resolved.  Hathaway denied that request.

Wershe was convicted of possession with intent to deliver more than 650 grams of cocaine and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1988 when he was 18.

Authorities said Wershe had eight kilos of high-grade powered cocaine worth about $5 million.

His sentence later became life with the possibility of parole because of changes in the drug law.

“I was very happy,” his mother Darlene McCormick said of today’s decision. “He needs to be out. He’s done his time.”

Wershe’s son, Richard Williams, one of his three children, said he was “overwhelmed” outside the courtroom.

"We all have to play by the rules, he has to play by the rules," Williams said. "But, I'm just hoping that the rules can be fair for once."

Wershe's attorney, Ralph Musilli, said he anticipated today’s ruling and said his client has already served more time than is called for by current sentencing guidelines.

He had filed a document asking the court to throw out his life sentence and resentence him "to time served, or a term of years that is proportional to the defendant's lesser culpability and demonstrated capacity for rehabilitation."

Musilli wrote the government used Wershe to infiltrate the drug trade in Detroit and said at 14, he was "recruited and introduced to the world of illegal drugs by the policing agencies of the government."He argued in a court filing that Wershe's sentence is unconstitutional under prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office opposed the defense's motion. A spokeswoman with the Prosecutor's Office, Maria Miller, said "he has not provided a sufficient basis to invalidate his sentence."

In prison, Wershe cooperated with FBI agents in other criminal investigations with the hope of gaining parole, which has not happened.

He was not granted parole in 2003, 2007, or 2012, said Chris Gautz, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections. His next chance to be paroled is 2017, he said.

While behind bars in a federal prison in Florida, Wershe was accused of helping to run a multimillion-dollar stolen car scheme.

He pleaded guilty to two felonies, including racketeering, in 2006, Gautz said.

"There is still an active detainer out of Florida for him," he said in an email to the Free Press.

Wershe's attorney said his client helped the feds infiltrate a drug ring and ended up in Florida in the federal witness protection program.

If he is released from prison in Michigan at some point, Wershe may still have to serve time in Florida.

The sentence of the Detroit drug dealer has divided people over the years.

Wershe's friend, Kid Rock, and some FBI agents have urged for his release but some agents for the Drug Enforcement Administration, police and prosecutors have urged that he stay locked up.

Contact Elisha Anderson: eanderson@freepress.com or 313-222-5144. Follow on Twitter @elishaanderson