Where is Richard Wershe Jr. now?

White boy Rick is a 2018 crime drama that tells the true story of Richard “Ricky” Wershe Jr. and although some of the facts have been altered for dramatic effect, much of the incredible story is true to history. White boy Rick is a movie based on the incredible true story of Richard Wershe Jr., who at age 14 became the youngest FBI informant ever. His story, from helping his father run illegal gun rings to becoming one of the biggest dealers in Detroit, is almost too outrageous and too unfair to be believed.

Matthew McConaughey stars in the movie as Richard “Rick” Wershe Sr. And his son is played by Richie Merra, who appeared in two episodes of Euphoria Like Bruce Jr. White boy Rick Begins in 1984, at the height of the crack epidemic in the United States and sees Ricky Jr. transform from a young boy trying to help his father into an enterprising and successful drug dealer. White boy Rick Will never make a list of the most accurate movies based on real events, but there are still parts that ring true to the real story.

Richard Wershe Sr. got his son into the drug game

The FBI first came to the father for help

The most glaring change of reality in White boy Rick Is his portrayal of Rick Sr. In the film, Ricky helps his father with his gun smuggling business. When the FBI gets smart, they are in contact with Ricky and tell him if he becomes an informant, they will not press charges against Rick Sr., all unknown to Rick Sr., who has no idea where he is. His son’s sudden wealth comes. of. This couldn’t be further from the truth because The FBI contacted Rick Sr. For help as an informant. In fact, they have a long-standing relationship (through Atavis).

Since the FBI is mostly concerned with drug rings in Detroit along with the DEA, a small-timer like Rick who resells guns is not on their radar. They even helped each other out, with the FBI letting Rick know when they saw his daughter Dawn, who had become addicted to drugs, getting into trouble. The agents went to their old friend hoping he would be able to identify some key figures in the drug rings who lived in the neighborhood. He can’t, but Ricky can, having gone on most of his father’s gun sale trips.

The FBI asked Rick if his son could be an informant And when a sum of money was offered, the decision was easy for the elderly. He told writer Evan Hughes in Atavis,

“I took the money. I didn’t do so well at the time. And I thought it was the right thing to do—keep some dragon dealers off the street and get paid for it.”

Now, there was a reason Ricky was so adept at spotting who the drug ring leaders were. He wasn’t a completely innocent kid, and by the time he was 14, Ricky was hanging out with Rudell “Boo” Curry (RJ Siler) and Johnny “Little Man” Curry (Jonathan Majors) crew and younger family members, learning How to commit burglaries.

Boo and Lil Man were part of a family of drug dealers and one of the top outfits in townand Richard Wershe Jr. Has an inside track. The young man seemed happy to help the FBI as he told Hughes, “What kid doesn’t want to be an undercover cop when he’s 14, 15 years old?”

The press nicknamed Richard Wershe Jr. “White Boy Rick.”

“White Boy Rick” is not a street name

While the name “White Boy Rick” may sound like a moniker earned from working the streets, or at least a name given to him by the FBI, It was actually a creation of the press (via Detroit Free Press). The name stuck, and it makes an excellent movie title.

Richard Wershe Jr. reveals a Detroit police scandal

The FBI came up with a citywide cover-up thanks to Ricky

What no one expected to happen was that Richard Werhe Jr. New York Times). Ricky heard from several other dealers that they had shot and killed a 13-year-old boy over a drug dispute, and he took the information to his FBI handlers. The FBI realized that the Detroit police had covered up crimes involving the Curry brothers.How Johnny Kerry was engaged to the mayor’s niece, Cathy Wilson. They proved to be tough around the brothers.

Because they understood that they had a major corruption scandal on their hands, but to press charges, the FBI would have to admit that they had been illegally employing an undercover miner the whole time. So, they dropped Ricky. Ricky had lived most of his young life under the watchful protection of the FBI, and was now on his own with no skills other than those he had learned from the FBI, namely how to sell drugs. To get closer to the band.

Attempts were made on Richard Wershe Jr.’s life

Ricky survived at least one shooting

When news began to filter out about White Boy Rick, the young dealer suddenly had a target on his back. Ricky told CNN A story about being called to a house after the FBI let him go. He was in the basement of the house when an associate of his called him up. Ricky was greeted by a .357 Magnum bullet that tore a hole through his large intestine. Ricky said of the shooting,

“No words were said. All I remember is waking up at the bottom of the stairs in this excruciating pain, and I was 15 years old. I thought I was going to die.”

Miraculously, the girlfriend of the shooter arrived and in a panic called the paramedics. The ambulance started just as the shooter carried Ricky to his car; Why, Ricky still doesn’t know. Richard Wershe Jr. also has the Detroit police after him as well. Nate Boone Craft, A former Detroit hitman for hire, claimed to Click on Detroit That a Detroit police officer offered him a significant sum of money to kill Ricky. Force said,

“I was told to kill White Boy Rick. Er [the police officer] Said, ‘125,000, I’ll make sure you get it as long as the boy is dead.’ His key word, ‘dead’. (He said) 125 (thousand), make sure that boy is dead. We can’t let him speak exact words. We can’t let him talk.”

Although there is no way to verify the Craft’s history, Ricky would be a big thorn in the city’s police forceAnd there were most likely many officers who would have benefited from seeing him dead.

Richard Wershe Jr. sold drugs and went to prison

Eventually the FBI stopped helping Ricky

Facing threats from the police and the street, and an FBI to help him, Ricky became a drug dealer out of necessity. He quickly rose through the ranks to be one of the most successful in town, all before he turned 18. Ricky has a white mink coat, a Rolex, and Johnny Carrey’s territory since Ricky sent him to prison. He even started dating Johnny’s girlfriend, Cathy Volsan (via All that is interesting). But the short good times did not last Detroit police broke into his home to discover 18 pounds of cocaine in his possession.

There was very little sympathy for the boy during the trial, with the judge even saying that Ricky was (like The New Yorker),

“…Worse than a mass murderer.”

Under Michigan’s 650-life statute, Richard Wershe Jr. was sentenced to life in prison for possessing more than 650 grams of cocaine, with no chance of forfeiture, in 1987 at the age of 17. However, in 1998, Michigan revised its 650-life law, and Ricky was eligible for parole in 2003. It would It wasn’t until 2017, 30 years later, that he was released, but even then, US it. Marshals took him back to a Florida state prison after three years to serve the remainder of a sentence for a car theft ring he was involved with.

Where is the real white boy Rick, aka Richard Wershe Jr., now?

Ricky is finally out of prison and moving forward

Richard Wershe Jr. was released from prison on July 20, 2020, a fact that was not revealed in the end credits of White boy RickAs the film came out two years earlier in 2018. Ricky is now an activist for non-violent offenders serving time for drug-related charges (via SlashFilm). He also started his own brand of cannabis called The 8thNamed for the Eighth Amendment, which protects Americans against cruel and unusual punishment.

How accurate is white boy Rick

The portrait of Rick Sr. was the most derided

White boy Rick Made some changes to Richard Wershe Jr. s real story to help heighten the drama and excitement of the movie. However, there were also complaints that it helped to whitewash his story somewhat. However, much of the backstory remained accurate, including Richard Werhe Sr. s role as a hustler and propensity to sell guns illegally on the black market from his home. However, HThe movie didn’t show Rick Jr. Was involved in a crime early in lifeIncluding robbing homes with his sister Dawn’s boyfriend.

According to Rick Wershe Sr., his son and daughter both became “sick” during this time in their lives (via Atavist magazine):

“My daughter got sick of doing drugs. My son got sick of the power, the excitement, the prestige, the money and the glamor of selling. OK? He got sick.”

However, the biggest complaints came with the image of Rick Sr. White boy Rick shows that the FBI wanted to use Rick Jr. as an informant and forced him in; It turns out that in real life, his father was abusive and sold out his kids to make more money. According to former Detroit TV News investigative reporter Vince Wade (via Daily Beast), “The facts did not fit their purpose, to tell a story of a depraved but good-hearted father from the lower class. This premise led to grafting a fairy tale onto real facts and incidents.“