Michigan Court To Rule On Rick Wershe, AKA White Boy Rick: Should He Be Compensated By Detroit?

While still a minor, age 17, Rick Wershe Jr. was sentenced to prison for cocaine possession after being used by the FBI as an informant. Known as White Boy Rick, Wershe was released in July 2020 for good behavior at age 52, after serving 33 years in federal prison.

In addition to becoming a legal cannabis entrepreneur in 2021, he sued the FBI and Detroit Police for $100 million for recruiting him at such a young age.

“In response, the city of Detroit has moved to dismiss Wershe’s lawsuit, arguing that conditions from the city’s 2013 bankruptcy filing prevent the man from legally seeking claims against the city,” reported local media on Wednesday.

“Having worked undercover for the FBI and Detroit police starting as a child at the tender age of 14, Wershe is the youngest FBI informant in the history of this nation,” reads a statement from attorneys representing Wershe at Ayad Law, PLLC. “The government used Wershe as a child from age 14 to 16, putting him amongst gangsters, killers, drug dealers and thrust him into the world of drug trafficking, and then all turned on him to cover up the illegal and embarrassing nature of their conduct.”

However, according to the court, Wershe did not file his claim on time.

After Detroit filed for bankruptcy in 2013, the court ordered that any entities seeking damages from the city had to file their claims by Feb. 21, 2014. Those who did not file a claim against the city prior to the deadline will be barred from asserting any claim against the city.

“In the amended complaint, the plaintiff asserts claims which arise from or relate to the plaintiff’s alleged work as a confidential informant in the mid-1980s, the alleged wrongful conviction of plaintiff in 1987, plaintiff’s grand jury testimony in 1992 or 1993, and his parole hearing in March 2003,” the court noted in a document filed on Jan. 4.

Wershe is scheduled to make an argument in favor of the federal lawsuit. The court has not yet ruled on the city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. 

Image Via El Planteo.