Charges dismissed against Richard Wershe Jr. in Miami, attorney says
(CBS DETROIT) - The attorney for Richard Wershe Jr., known as "White Boy Rick," says charges filed against him in Miami have been dismissed.
Wershe was arrested back in May on battery and robbery by snatching charges. At the time, a Miami police report alleged Wershe attacked his girlfriend during an argument. The woman told police that attacked her, causing bruising to her left bicep, and he allegedly took the jewelry that he bought her.
Wershe's attorney, Eric Schwartzreich, said the charges were dropped on Thursday, Nov. 16.
"The charges were unfounded. The charges never should have been brought in the first place," Schwartzreich said in an interview with CBS News Detroit.
Wershe, who also spoke with CBS News Detroit, denied the allegations in the Miami incident and said he does not condone hitting women.
"To be accused of something that I am totally against and that I've donated money to throughout my life, it was very upsetting."
You can watch the full interview in the video above.
Wershe was sentenced in 1988 at age 17 for drug dealing. He served roughly 30 years in prison in Michigan before his release in 2017, followed by a few more years in a Florida prison for an unrelated crime.
He filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the FBI and Detroit police, alleging that his troubles in the 1980s were related to the pressures of pleasing local police and federal agents who used him as an informant and repeatedly sent him into drug dens.
In September 2023, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, citing that Wershe waited too late to file.
Wershe's story was the basis of the 2018 film "White Boy Rick," starring Matthew McConaughey and Richie Merritt. The title referred to Wershe's nickname in his younger days, a nickname he dislikes.