Ricahrd Wershe Jr. in court Sept. 4, 2015
For decades now, the criminal justice system has screwed convicted drug trafficker Richard Wershe Jr.
First, over the many years he cooperated with federal and local law enforcement and helped lock up drug dealers and cops, both while he was on the streets of Detroit and behind bars. In exchange, he hasn't gotten any reduction in his prison sentence. Not one day. That in itself is unheard of.
He has been serving a life sentence since he was a teen. He's 46. Wershe, nicknamed "White Boy Rick" decades ago, has been locked up far too long, even cops and federal agents say.
Time and again, the Michigan Parole Board has rejected his requests to go free, thanks in part, to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. Up until recently, Worthy has opposed his efforts to go free, treating him like Pablo Escobar, the late Colombian drug lord. That in itself is absurd. Just recently, she agreed to stop opposing his efforts.
Now, the good news:
Wershe signed a notice Monday that he will meet one-on-one with a parole board member Feb. 13, reports Kevin Dietz of WDIV.
"This is a big deal," says lawyer Neil Rockind of Bloomfield Hills, the station's legal commentator. "It's the first step in Wershe getting paroled. He has to have the meeting. The meeting has to go well."
The meeting will be at Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee, Dietz reports. The board member will then make a recommendation to a panel, which determines if Wershe will be released or passed up. For now, his attorneys are cautiously optimistic.
The parole board has a chance to do the right thing. Hopefully, after all these years, it won't blow it -- again.
