By Jeff Karoub
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — A major Detroit-area drug trafficker known as “White Boy Rick” who has spent nearly 30 years in prison could soon be released after a judge ordered a resentencing last Friday.
Richard Wershe Jr., 46, deserves a new sentence because he was sentenced at the age of 18 under old law and the justice system now treats juveniles constitutionally different than adults, Wayne County Circuit Judge Dana Hathaway ruled.
She scheduled the resentencing for Sept. 18 over the objections of Wayne County prosecutors, who say they plan to appeal because they believe his sentence is lawful and his rights-violations claims were rejected on a previous appeal.
Defense attorney Ralph Musilli said his client conceivably could be released immediately after that hearing, given the time he has served.
“He has done his time,” his mother, Darlene McCormick, said after the hearing. “He’s been very good and he needs to get out, spend time with his family.”
At the time Wershe was arrested in 1987, authorities described him as being at the top echelons of trafficking. One judge said at a 1987 hearing that “he’s worse than a mass murderer.”
Prosecutors said he had cocaine before his arrest but dumped it in a neighbor’s yard. His lawyers said the cocaine was found only after Wershe was beaten by police.
He was convicted of possessing more than 650 grams of cocaine and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Changes in Michigan’s drug law made in 2002 him eligible for parole the next year.
Hathaway said she’s not ruling that a life sentence with parole is unconstitutional. Rather, Wershe is “entitled to be resentenced with consideration given to his youth and the circumstances surrounding the crime.”
Wershe was a childhood friend of musician Kid Rock, who testified on his behalf in 2003 before the Michigan Parole Board.
Wershe, who is being held in a state prison in northern Michigan, has helped the FBI investigate drugs and police corruption.
“They put him away for life, they buried him and they said, ‘Not only are we going to hope everyone forgets about him, we’re going to take ... action to make sure he stays buried,’” Musilli said.
Wershe’s son, Richard Williams, also attended the hearing. The 27-year-old was born shortly after his father was imprisoned.
Williams said it’s hard to put into words how he feels. He acknowledges that his father, like everybody, “has to play by the rules.” Still, Williams added, he’s “hoping that the rules can be fair for once.”
“I grew up near where he grew up, where he was picked up,” Williams said. “It’s worse now than it ever was. ... Is keeping him off the streets really helping anything that all these prosecutors and whoever is saying is helping? I don’t think so.”
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