By Jeff Karoub
Associated Press
DETROIT — A major Detroit-area drug trafficker known as “White Boy Rick” who has spent nearly 30 years in prison could soon be released after a judge ordered a resentencing Friday.
Richard Wershe Jr., 46, deserves a new sentence because he was sentenced at the age of 18 under old law and the justice system now treats juveniles constitutionally different than adults, Wayne County Circuit Judge Dana Hathaway ruled.
She scheduled the resentencing for Sept. 18 over the objections of Wayne County prosecutors who say they plan to appeal.
Defense attorney Ralph Musilli said his client conceivably could be released immediately after that hearing, given the time he has served.
“He has done his time,” his mother, Darlene McCormick, said after the hearing. “He’s been very good and he should be out.”
Wershe was arrested in 1987. Prosecutors said he had cocaine before his arrest but dumped it in a neighbor’s yard. At the time, authorities described Wershe as being at the top echelons of trafficking.
He was convicted of possessing more than 650 grams of cocaine and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Changes in Michigan’s drug law made in 2002 him eligible for parole the next year.
Wershe was a childhood friend of musician Kid Rock, who testified on his behalf in 2003 before the Michigan Parole Board.