Youngest ever paid FBI drug informant ‘White Boy Rick’, 51, is released from prison after 32 years – having spent his whole adult life behind bars
- Richard J. Wershe Jr. was discharged from custody in Kissimmee, FL, on Monday
- The 51-year-old had been behind bars since 1988 for a non-violent drug crime
- Wershe was one of the FBI’s most productive informants in Detroit
- He began working for the FBI between the ages of 14 and 16
- His controversial case garnered national attention and has even inspired movies
The youngest paid drug informant in FBI history has been released from custody in Florida, taking his first steps of freedom since he was incarcerated as a teenager 32 years ago.
Richard J. Wershe Jr. – known more commonly as White Boy Rick – was discharged from a residential work-release program in Kissimmee on Monday, the state’s Department of Corrections confirmed.
The 51-year-old had been behind bars since 1988 for a non-violent drug crime, despite being one of the FBI’s most productive paid drug informants having started working undercover for the bureau in Detroit when he was just 14.
His controversial case garnered national attention and has even inspired a number of books and movies, including the 2018 feature film White Boy Rick, starring Matthew McConaughey.
‘He´s anxious to get home,’ Wershe´s attorney, Ralph Musilli, told reporters Monday. ‘His head is in a good place. He has a good support group here, and he is finally ready get back into the real world.’
Richard J. Wershe Jr. – known more commonly as White Boy Rick – was discharged from a residential work-release program in Kissimmee on Monday, the state’s Department of Corrections confirmed
Wershe was arrested by Detroit police in 1987, aged 17. Officials reported that he was found with eight kilos of cocaine in his possession and $30,000 in cash.
A jury later convicted him of possession with the intent to supply more than 650 grams of cocaine.
He was initially sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, however, drug laws later changed allowing the possibility of supervised release.
Wershe was the longest-serving nonviolent juvenile offender in Michigan’s history. He was locked up in the state’s Oaks Correction facility until 2017, before a parole board handed him over to US Marshals.
He was then sent to Florida to serve time for a 2006 conviction stemming from his role in a car theft ring. The crimes happened while he was incarcerated in the state as part of the federal witness protection program.