'White Boy Rick's' $100M lawsuit dismissed against FBI, Detroit police

A federal judge on Monday dismissed Richard Wershe Jr.'s $100 million lawsuit against the FBI and Detroit police, concluding that the infamous drug informant and dealer known as "White Boy Rick" waited too long to sue over his alleged distress and misfortune cooperating with the government.

Wershe, who got a life sentence on a drug conviction at age 17 and served more than three decades behind bars, said that he feared retaliation if he spoke out against the powerful figures he says pressured him into becoming an informant at 15 and ruined his life.

But the judge concluded he could have and should have acted sooner.

"(Wersche) has not met his burden to show that he acted 'as diligently as reasonably could be expected' when he did not take any action to file a claim or seek protection from the alleged threats of retaliation during his lengthy prison sentence," U.S. District Judge Kay Behm wrote in her opinion. "(Wershe's) allegations affirmatively show that his claims are time-barred and must be dismissed."

Behm's ruling comes almost two years after Wershe filed the federal lawsuit against the FBI and Detroit police, alleging law enforcement subjected him to child abuse by coercing him into being a drug informant when he was just a teen, robbing him of a full life.

His lawyer has vowed an appeal.

"We are disappointed that the judge didn’t find Mr. Wershe to have extraordinary circumstances and therefore not tolling the statute of limitations," Werseh's lawyer, Nabih Ayad, said in an email to the Free Press late Monday. "We will be appealing to the United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals."

The FBI declined comment, as did the city of Detroit.

'I told on corruption on the city of Detroit'

Wershe, now 54, spent 30 years in prison in Michigan on a Wayne County drug conviction before his release in 2017, followed by a few more years in a Florida prison for his role in a car theft ring.

"I’m bitter about missing out on my kids' lives, about not being able to see my father when he was dying. I have grandkids who I’ve never met to this day," Wershe said at a news conference in 2021, when he filed his lawsuit. "I want to put this behind me and I think this is the final chapter."

Wershe maintains that "the only reason that I stayed in prison for 30 years was because I told on corruption on the city of Detroit. … I told on the powers that be, and I was too young and dumb to know that it would affect the rest of my life."

The Detroit police and federal government, meanwhile, argued Wershe Jr. filed his lawsuit too late — almost one day before his parole officially ended — and that the statute of limitations had been reached. They also scoffed at his fears of retaliation by powerful figures, noting that Wershe Jr. had filed numerous civil lawsuits against influential figures while he was locked up.

The defendants also argued that Wershe's claims were so old that it's unlikely they would be able to find any relevant documents or witnesses — assuming they're still alive — to recall the details of what happened.

The judge agreed.

"Plaintiff has not provided any evidence that he discussed his fear of retaliation or any concrete threats with his attorneys, prison officials, or any other individuals from various state or federal law enforcement agencies."

"In fact," the judge continued, "defendants highlighted that (he) filed a number of lawsuits against 'powerful individuals' when he was in prison."

Among the lawsuits cited by the judge are Wershe's unsuccessful appeal of his 1988 cocaine conviction, his lawsuit against the parole board and another lawsuit against the Michigan prison warden.

These cases, the judge wrote, indicate that Wershe "had access to the legal system, and did not fear bringing cases against individuals in power."

Wershe's allegations of suffering

In his 10-page federal lawsuit, Wershe argued that his reckless youth in the 1980s was tied to the pressures of pleasing local police and the FBI, who used him as an informant and sent him into drug dens.

The lawsuit also says that Wershe's work as an informant almost cost him his life in 1984, when he was shot at point-blank range, "cutting his large intestine in half and only surviving by the grace of God."

More: Who is White Boy Rick? 7 facts about the 14-year-old FBI informant

Wershe's conviction and life as an informant inspired the 2018 film "White Boy Rick," starring Matthew McConaughey and Richie Merritt, who played Wershe's father and Wershe, respectively.

Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'White Boy Rick's' $100M lawsuit dismissed against FBI, Detroit cops