Whiteboy Ricks buried Millions ?

[donpablo]

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)

[Motor City Sam]

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]

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.

[DaveyM]

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

Amen brother!

Rick was convicted at a time when everything bad in Detroit was said to be caused by drugs and drug dealers. Rick should be released asap! He's a good guy who made some mistakes. He was just a kid when he was convicted and has spent the last 23 years in prison. So sad..
Rick NEVER had millions so there's no way he could have buried any large amount of money.

[Lowell]

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

[donpablo]

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]

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.

[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.

[dove-7]

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]

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 .

[Bella]

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 .

I have tried to find articles on him before, as well. I have found a couple of fake myspace pages on him, and that's about it.

I am four months older than he is, too. Wow.

[donpablo]

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 wasn’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]

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.

[Lowell]

~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]

they were just making an example out of him

[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.

[jt1]

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

[donpablo]

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.

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.

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.

[DaveyM]

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.

Detroit was going downhill fast well before coke/crack became a problem in the city. We could also blame the ills of Detroit on booze and lock up the CEO's of the beer/liquor companies, eh? I'm not saying drugs are good but I won't subscribe to the notion that drugs brought Detroit to it's knees. The lose of jobs connected to the auto industry could also be blamed for many problems in Detroit.
Rick was NOT involved in murders. He was a kid who sold drugs as a teen.
You'd also be very surprised at who HAS been released. Guys much larger than Rick who were connected to beheadings and other murders.
I know Rick and find it sad that people out there say and print so many untruths about him. I guess it makes to a more interesting story but.. it's not the truth.

[Django]

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

[Lowell]

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]

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.

[jtf1972]

The funniest thing I noticed back in the days [[looking innocently around, lalalalala...) was that black guys would brag that they always got the best stuff from white boys, yet white guys would brag that the stuff they got was the best out there & they knew it because they got it from a black guy.

[Johnnny5]

Even if drugs were legalized is anyone really so naive as to think these guys would have been honest, upstanding citizens? If you could legally buy crack at the local party store these scumbags would have been stealing cars, robbing old ladies and holding up party stores to make a quick buck. They took the low road in life, and more often than not it's a dead end.

[Django]

Even if drugs were legalized is anyone really so naive as to think these guys would have been honest, upstanding citizens? If you could legally buy crack at the local party store these scumbags would have been stealing cars, robbing old ladies and holding up party stores to make a quick buck. They took the low road in life, and more often than not it's a dead end.

Thats an unfair statement. Most drug dealers find their trade simply by knowing someone else in the trade who's making a lot of money and in turn want that lifestyle, rims and all. Dealers are just buying/selling another product like any businessperson. Im IMHO its should be an honest line of work. Thieves on the other hand tend to be pre programmed to take what they want. Can you honestly say Johnny5 that any dealer youve known would most likely just pick up a gun and start robbing ppl if they couldnt deal drugs anymore? Ive known a lot of dealers over the years but most of them just weren't thieves like that, they just wanted to buy for a dollar and sell for two [[as Prop. Joe would say)

On the other hand, dealers who go to prison quickly learn how to be a criminal or a better criminal. . Prison is just a college for criminals. They will often come out of the system knowledgeable in all different kinds of crime and will turn to it when they get out and find getting a decent job near impossible. You say they chose the low road in life but when your born on the low road you will often go with what you know. I couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to climb out of the hood.

White Boy Rick should never have gone to prison in the first place. Is there any less drugs on the street now that we have over a half million dealers and users in prison today? We havent made a dent in drugs available. The problem should have been tackled at the root, those that consume the drugs, and should be treated as a health issue like the disease addiction is, not a criminal issue as supply and demand will always rule.

As I understand WBR did learn a new trade while in prison, how to run a car theft ring from behind bars. From prison he made the leap from non violent so called criminal to real criminal, and now we want to let him out. .