Judge tosses Richard 'White Boy Rick' Wershe's $1M lawsuit against Detroit, FBI
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A judge tossed Richard Wershe Jr.'s lawsuit seeing $1 million from Detroit and the FBI after his role as an informant as a teen landed him in prison.
Wershe, who was often referred to as "White Boy Rick," received life in prison for drug offenses following years of work as an informant for federal and local police. He was finally released from prison after 30 years.
He alleges that city, FBI, and police officers forced him into being a drug informant at the age of 14, then keeping him in prison and prolonging his sentence. He cites two separate occasions - one in 1988 and one in 2003.
The first time happened before he was convicted and locked up, and the 2003 occasion happened while he was in prison and solicited to assist with an operation to take down corrupt Detroit police and politicians.
Rick Wershe Jr. in court to preserve $100 million lawsuit against Detroit and FBI
His 30 years in prison for drug offenses were considered some of the harshest sentences an offender has received for those crimes. Rick Wershe says law enforcement conspired to keep him in prison.
According to Wershe, he took so long to say anything about it because he feared retaliation.
Once he filed the lawsuit, the defendants argued that he had missed the window to file a suit because the statute of limitations had been reached. The judge determined that Wershe's claims were time-barred.
In the court document dismissing the suit, the judge wrote that he did "not alleged any facts tending to show that he was still at risk for retaliation after he was granted parole, released from the Michigan prison system, and transferred to the Florida prison system in 2017."