“White Boy” Rick Wershe has been behind bars for 29 years for crimes he committed when he was a teen. He met Tuesday with the chairman of the Michigan parole board as part of his latest bid for release.
Richard Wershe, known as "White Boy Rick," met in private with Michael Eagen for 45 minutes inside the Oaks Correctional Facility and answered questions from the chairman.
“He answered the questions appropriately, factually, and I thought it was a good interview,” Wershe’s attorney, Ralph Musilli, said. “It was very positive.”
Wershe explained to Eagen the devastation drugs have on a community and apologized for the crimes he committed as a teenager. He also promised not to go back to a life of crime.
“They wanted to know about Rick’s involvement in the drug trade, how long he was involved and how much money he made off of it, how he was arrested and the facts and circumstances around that,” Musilli said.
He told the chairman he has job offers and a place to live if he were released.
“He’s got a good support system on the outside,” Musilli said.
READ: The Story of White Boy Rick
Corrections Department spokesman Chris Gautz says the full board could then take a look at Wershe's case in the weeks ahead.
Wershe
is serving a life sentence with occasional opportunities for parole. The parole board so far has declined to release him. But this time Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy is staying neutral on freedom for the 47-year-old Wershe.