After throwing money at the child for 3 years, the job and money disappeared. To maintain his lifestyle, the teenage Wershe began selling drugs, and ultimately landed himself a life sentence under Michigan’s 650 lifer law — legislation that has since been abolished.
At the beginning of Wershe’s agreement with police, the 14-year-old would receive a few dollars to identify drug dealers. He would be shown photographs and asked to identify suspects, and that was basically the extent of it.
Over time, Wershe began to be sent into houses to purchase drugs and collect information about the trade, suspects’ connections, and how the drugs were coming in, leading to much bigger paychecks.
Over the course of his two years working with law enforcement, the teen received approximately $30,000. Dubbed “White Boy Rick,” he bought cars and was dating the niece of Detroit’s mayor, a woman five years his senior.
The DEA helped turn him into an urban legend: a baby-faced drug lord with an notorious reputation.
But when Wershe was 15 years old, he was shot by a suspected drug dealer, and his injuries prevented him from returning to school. He claims the police shied away from him at this point, but eventually offered to send him to Las Vegas for a boxing match that big-time drug dealers were set to attend.
“They wanted as much information as I could get on a drug organization in Detroit,” Wershe told Click on Detroit. “The government is the one that provided me with the fake ID.”
The trip led to the massive bust of a major drug operation, but after that, the police and the money disappeared.
“They turned their back on me. I was a 17-year-old kid. I was addicted to the money,” Wershe said.
With the informant money no longer coming in, and having already been thrown into the world of drugs, the teenager began selling drugs, and was busted with 8 kilograms of cocaine a year later.
After being dubbed a drug kingpin, Wershe was thrown in prison for life, despite having been a minor at the time of his arrest. He is now 46 years old, and was made eligible for parole a decade ago, though he has yet to receive a hearing from the parole board, despite his crime not being one involving violence.
“They got me involved in this. I was a kid. I made a poor decision. Should I be paying for it 27 years later? I don’t think so,” Wershe said.
In June 2014, the Supreme Court banned mandatory life sentences for minors, even when they commit murder. Wershe remains imprisoned for a first time, non-violent offense.
