JACKSON, Mich. – A Detroit-area man seeking parole after nearly 30 years in prison for drug crimes committed when he was a teenager says he won't return to drug dealing.
Known on the streets as "White Boy Rick," 47-year-old Richard Wershe (WER'-she) was sentenced to life in prison for intending to deliver cocaine. Prosecutors say he'd stashed about 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms) of the drug.
Wershe told Michigan parole board members on Thursday that he's grown up and been rehabilitated in prison, saying he now knows "drugs destroy my community."
No immediate decision was made on his parole request.
Wershe was 17 when he was caught with a load of cocaine. He says he had worked as an FBI informant and reported corrupt Detroit police officers but wasn't given leniency.
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