Whiteboy Ricks buried Millions ?

**Lowell** · March-28-10, 09:30 PM

Now 40, in prison since he was 18, a lifetime to go.
Attachment 5638

**donpablo** · March-28-10, 10:14 PM

In my opinion the crime is that Whiteboy Rick has been locked up for so long. Someone i grew up with did 10 years for selling an ounce of coke in 1 gram increments. He went to jail when he was 18 and got out when he was 28. That is a crime as well.

I'll join along:

FREE WHITEBOY RICK!!!

**xphillipjrx** · March-28-10, 10:33 PM

Wow, he was born four months after me. It's amazing to think about what I've done since I was 17 and what WBR has done. Sad.

**Gistok** · March-28-10, 11:48 PM

Originally Posted by Downriviera

All these urban agriculture groups are just a front. They are really just digging for White boy Rick's buried millions.

LMAO.... we'll have to keep a close eye on how much BLING Cub wears in the future...

lilpup · March-29-10, 12:07 AM

If he hadn't been busted for the car theft ring there might be more of an argument for his release, but if he can swing a multi-million dollar illegal enterprise from within a Federal prison, then no, I really don't want him out because the thought of what he could be capable of on the outside is downright scary.

**dove-7** · March-29-10, 01:23 AM

Originally Posted by detroitbob66

You can look him up on Offender Tracking Information System [[OTIS) and see his current picture mugshot in prison. Been locked up for over twenty years and I think he deserves parole. You have rapists and killers that get parole, but Rick Wershe was just a drug dealer who, if released, wouldn't sell drugs ever again simply because of the fact that everyone would be watching his every move! He deserves another chance at life....FREE WHITE BOY RICK

What? Many guilty rapist and killers don't deserve parole, but that's another topic. What Rick had done was very serious. As for him being "just a drug dealer and will never do it again" is pretty sad to play that down. You have to look at the degree of the crime. We're not talking about someone that sold a couple of crack rocks to a customer here. What he will and won't do if he ever get out is speculation which don't equate to facts or knowing. There are plenty of drug dealers that served their time and got right back in the game only to get caught again.

**dove-7** · March-29-10, 01:28 AM

Originally Posted by lilpup

If he hadn't been busted for the car theft ring there might be more of an argument for his release, but if he can swing a multi-million dollar illegal enterprise from within a Federal prison, then no, I really don't want him out because the thought of what he could be capable of on the outside is downright scary.

Word. Some people are forgetting the grand scale this kid now man was doing and the kind of power that he still has while in prison. That's saying a hell of lot when you can still pull crimes while behind bars on a large scale. It's no different than the Mexican Mob aka Le Eme. These guys are no joke and pretty much all of the King Pins are lifers but they still run the drugs and gangs behind bars. Do them wrong and they can make things happen no matter how much concrete and steel is preventing them from roaming the streets.

They're the reason why you have a war between the Mexican and blacks down in L.A. They pulled the Hispanic gangs together rival and non rival down there to take over areas that were once/are black neighborhoods. It's a Le Eme turf drug war that is flooding over into the local innocent victims neighborhoods. Compton, L.A. etc.

**HATCHMO92** · March-29-10, 10:57 PM

Im surprised with how little info there is on his case , with how big of a story he was , you'd think there would be alot more on the net . I could only find the same 3 photo's of him. Does any one know were i can find footage of his trial , the one that was over ran by teenage dealers .

**donpablo** · March-30-10, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by lilpup

If he hadn't been busted for the car theft ring there might be more of an argument for his release, but if he can swing a multi-million dollar illegal enterprise from within a Federal prison, then no, I really don't want him out because the thought of what he could be capable of on the outside is downright scary.

That article only said he was "arrested" in the car theft ring. It didn't even say he was officially charged, it only said he was "accused". If he was found guilty, OTIS would have the conviction listed.

In my opinion no one should ever spend that amount of time in jail for any amount of drugs. The dude was 17 years old.... On the grand scale of things what kind of "Kingpin" was he really? He would deserve life if he was out robbing and killing his rivals like Christopher Walken in the "King of New York" Trust me, Whiteboy Rick was no kingpin. He was a smart business minded kid who wasnâ€™t afraid to take big time chances. Unfortunately he chose the easy way out and decided to use his skills in illegal business.

I also understand when you come from his background, throw in 20 plus years in prison that your chance for becoming a normal citizen is very low. Still, Whiteboy Rick's second chance is long overdue.

**cch** · March-30-10, 02:09 PM

someone who has been locked away since 1988 and wasn't even yet 18 years old when put behind bars has probably not gained very many marketable skills during his time put in. he probably has learned more than a few lessons while in prison, but i'm also quite sure he has very little to fall back on other than crime-- the only business he knows.

**Motor City Sam** · March-30-10, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by detroitbob66

You can look him up on Offender Tracking Information System [[OTIS) and see his current picture mugshot in prison. Been locked up for over twenty years and I think he deserves parole. You have rapists and killers that get parole, but Rick Wershe was just a drug dealer who, if released, wouldn't sell drugs ever again simply because of the fact that everyone would be watching his every move! He deserves another chance at life....FREE WHITE BOY RICK

People thought the same thing about Butch Jones when he got out of prison: He'll be clean because he knows everyone will be watching him. And where is Jones now? Right back in federal prison serving 30 years for starting up another drug ring when he got out.

Rick is right where he needs and deserves to be. He wasn't some kid selling nickel bags on the corner; he was a major player in the drug trade.

**donpablo** · March-30-10, 05:20 PM

Originally Posted by Motor City Sam

People thought the same thing about Butch Jones when he got out of prison: He'll be clean because he knows everyone will be watching him. And where is Jones now? Right back in federal prison serving 30 years for starting up another drug ring when he got out.

Rick is right where he needs and deserves to be. He wasn't some kid selling nickel bags on the corner; he was a major player in the drug trade.

Rick was only a major player among his age group. You know, teenagers. Getting caught with a pound of coke is not a "major player". Maybe he knew a "major player" or knew someone who knew a "major player"

According to statistics, if he gets out he probably will go back in. Maybe he does belong there but he doesn't deserve to be there [[at least for his original crime when he was a minor)

**detroitbob66** · March-31-10, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by dove-7

What? Many guilty rapist and killers don't deserve parole, but that's another topic. What Rick had done was very serious. As for him being "just a drug dealer and will never do it again" is pretty sad to play that down. You have to look at the degree of the crime. We're not talking about someone that sold a couple of crack rocks to a customer here. What he will and won't do if he ever get out is speculation which don't equate to facts or knowing. There are plenty of drug dealers that served their time and got right back in the game only to get caught again.

I certainly see your point here. I would agree with what you say, but he deserves to get out soon. 22 years in prison is a good enough sentence for dealing drugs. Besides, he was only a tennage kid when he did all of this stuff. We all did stupid things when we were teenagers. I changed my life around after "doin time" and I am very successul today.

**Motor City Sam** · April-02-10, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by donpablo

Rick was only a major player among his age group. You know, teenagers. Getting caught with a pound of coke is not a "major player". Maybe he knew a "major player" or knew someone who knew a "major player"

According to statistics, if he gets out he probably will go back in. Maybe he does belong there but he doesn't deserve to be there [[at least for his original crime when he was a minor)

Don pablo, Rick was more than a big shot among teenagers. He got his drugs from a major Miami cartel. He was also high enough up in the Detroit drug scene tht he was able to provide information on other major players when he flipped. I remember clearly when this case was prosecuted. He is exactly the type of person for which the lifer law was intended.

I respect your differing opinion, but I'm surprised that in a City such as Detroit, which has been devastated by crime and drugs, there are people who advocate for drug dealers to be released from prison, particularly those who continued to commit crimes after they were sentenced.

**ct_alum** · April-02-10, 12:44 PM

Rick was only a major player among his age group. You know, teenagers. Getting caught with a pound of coke is not a "major player". Maybe he knew a "major player" or knew someone who knew a "major player"

He was enough of a "major player" to be protected by DPD while he was getting high with the Honorable Coleman A. Young's niece Cathy Volsan. But, I agree - Life is too harsh of a sentence, especially when it is not applied equally.

**Lowell** · April-02-10, 01:34 PM

~If~ he has buried millions, currency has changed so much in the past 22 years that it would seem problematic to move/launder those old bills without attracting attention.

I have to agree with the opinion that he should be eligible for parole, if his prison time behavior has been acceptable. At 18 years old he could not have been a true kingpin, only a big dealer and big patsy. Our state does not have enough money to keep him behind bars. Had he been in his late twenties or older and in the business for years, I might see some argument for him staying in. What he heck a lot of murderers do less time than 22 years.

**pgn421** · April-02-10, 06:56 PM

they were just making an example out of him

**R8RBOB** · April-02-10, 08:09 PM

It's funny reading these responses that White Boy Rick should be pardoned. That he did his time yet are we forgetting that he was part of a culture that took Detroit on a path to hell. That this is the same Richard Wershe Jr. that was partnered up with Richard Carter aka Maserati Rick who was one of the leaders of Best Friends, a drug gang that did murder for hire. If The Wire showed us one thing is that you can't control blocks without dropping bodies. [[i.e. Mario and the vacants) White Boy Rick was pushing major dope back in the 80's and his hands were not clean. He is right where he belongs. Next thing you know all of the Chambers brothers will be asking to be let out.

**jt1** · April-02-10, 08:16 PM

I wonder how many black kids were in the same scenario, got the same sentence but never is a peep said about them

**Django** · April-02-10, 09:48 PM

Hes done enough time. Give him a shot, if he fucks up he'll be back in.

A little over a pound of coke is probably only a weeks worth of business on a busy corner, hardly kingpin material.

The drug war is bullshit. It should be a health issue not a legal or criminal issue.

What good has locking up WBR actually achieved? Does anyone really think the supply of drugs on the street has gone down because of locking up any one or any 100 drug dealers?
The prison system has only become a college for criminals, the more people we put through this college the more criminals were going to have when they get out. Non violent DD's are better off on the street doing what is going to be done anyway.

Free WBR

**donpablo** · April-03-10, 12:14 AM

Originally Posted by jt1

I wonder how many black kids were in the same scenario, got the same sentence but never is a peep said about them

Jt1, way too many. I just did a quick search and found this info. This is the link:

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/64

This is one section:

[[1999) "Our research shows that blacks comprise 62.7 percent and whites 36.7 percent of all drug offenders admitted to state prison, even though federal surveys and other data detailed in this report show clearly that this racial disparity bears scant relation to racial differences in drug offending. There are, for example, five times more white drug users than black. Relative to population, black men are admitted to state prison on drug charges at a rate that is 13.4 times greater than that of white men. In large part because of the extraordinary racial disparities in incarceration for drug offenses, blacks are incarcerated for all offenses at 8.2 times the rate of whites. One in every 20 black men over the age of 18 in the United States is in state or federal prison, compared to one in 180 white men."
Source:
Human Rights Watch, "Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs" [[Washington, DC: Human Rights Watch, 2000).
http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2000/usa/Rcedrg00.htm#P54_1086

Here is another:

At the start of the 1990s, the U.S. had more Black men [[between the ages of 20 and 29) under the control of the nation's criminal justice system than the total number in college. This and other factors have led some scholars to conclude that, "crime control policies are a major contributor to the disruption of the family, the prevalence of single parent families, and children raised without a father in the ghetto, and the 'inability of people to get the jobs still available.'"
Source:
Craig Haney, Ph.D., and Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D., "The Past and Future of U.S. Prison Policy: Twenty-five Years After the Stanford Prison Experiment," American Psychologist, Vol. 53, No. 7 [[July 1998), p. 716.
http://www.csdp.org/research/haney_apa.pdf

I remember laws implemented that differentiated crack from cocaine in the court of law. Essentially those laws helped drive the racially disproportionate numbers we have in prison. Check the link if you want to read more depressing statistics.

Originally Posted by R8RBOB

It's funny reading these responses that White Boy Rick should be pardoned. That he did his time yet are we forgetting that he was part of a culture that took Detroit on a path to hell. That this is the same Richard Wershe Jr. that was partnered up with Richard Carter aka Maserati Rick who was one of the leaders of Best Friends, a drug gang that did murder for hire. If The Wire showed us one thing is that you can't control blocks without dropping bodies. [[i.e. Mario and the vacants) White Boy Rick was pushing major dope back in the 80's and his hands were not clean. He is right where he belongs. Next thing you know all of the Chambers brothers will be asking to be let out.

R8RBOB, If drugs were legal, Detoit would have never went down the path of the "crack" hell of the 80's and 90's.

Originally Posted by Django

The drug war is bullshit. It should be a health issue not a legal or criminal issue.

What good has locking up WBR actually achieved? Does anyone really think the supply of drugs on the street has gone down because of locking up any one or any 100 drug dealers?
The prison system has only become a college for criminals, the more people we put through this college the more criminals were going to have when they get out. Non violent DD's are better off on the street doing what is going to be done anyway.

Free WBR

Django, I will ask the same questions and agree with everything you say here.

**MvGuy** · April-03-10, 12:28 PM

And what happened to Detroit is about what was going on with the markets for labor and CARS, not drugs.

**mjb3** · April-03-10, 01:25 PM

Instead of locking up White Boy Rick and Butch Jones, why not just legalize drugs and let them out.

Oh wait, that makes too much sense....

We could save all that money at the mexican border too???

**Lowell** · April-03-10, 02:53 PM

I was having a discussion about this last night and the conclusion was that his nickname doomed him. It makes so much better press than plain old Richard Wershe.

I agree with Django. Allow adults to put whatever they wish in their bodies. If they screw up we have laws to deal with them. We don't need laws for what people might do. We only need laws for what they actually do.

**Django** · April-03-10, 09:55 PM

Anyone remember the other high profile case with a young white cocaine man? I believe his first name was Gary. He made the cover story of Rolling Stone in the 90's with his plight of getting caught with a ki. He didn't have a ghetto-fabulous name like WBR, he was just some kid who happen to grow up with someone who dealt in quantity and was convinced by a undercover drug cop to made a quick deal for a few bucks. He got popped and I believe spent about 10 years in prison of a life sentence due to mandatory minimums statutes but was pardoned soon after appearing on the cover of R.S. Of course this miracle story would never happen to a black man. Nice looking white kids in trouble sell more ink.

Anyone remember Two Fer Ten? I would love to hear John Sinclairs take on the matter. No doubt two joints are a far cry from two pounds of blow but the prison sentences given were comparable. You out there John?

Since joining Dyes some 8 years ago or so I've noticed a pretty radical change in attitude toward the drug war. I used to see quite a few posts from folks convinced that keeping dealers and users in prison was the only way to go. This is an important issue that needs to be discussed as much as possible until a better solution is found and implemented. This site is read by folks that can make a difference. Discussing it as much as possible is a great way to keep the ball rolling.