Richard Wershe Jr. became the FBI's youngest informant, uncovered the biggest Detroit police scandal in the city's history, and was arrested for drug trafficking — all before the age of 18.
In 2018, the movie White Boy Rick, starring Matthew McConaughey and Richie Merritt, dramatized the true story of Richard “Rick” Wershe Jr. At just 14, Rick became the youngest FBI informant the agency ever employed. The film explores his entry into Detroit’s dangerous drug scene — and what happened after federal agents stopped working with him.
White Boy Rick covers much of Richard Wershe Jr.’s real-life ordeal, but as with most movies based on true stories, some details were changed or left out. The former informant’s story is one of crime, undercover work, and, ultimately, betrayal. That said, the film takes some creative liberties.
This is the true story behind White Boy Rick.
Richard Wershe Jr.’s Life Growing Up Amidst Detroit’s Criminal Underworld
Michigan Department of CorrectionsRichard Wershe Jr.’s 1988 mugshot.
Born on July 18, 1969, Richard “Rick” Wershe Jr. was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Rick Jr.’s childhood was rough, especially during the 1980s, when the city was devastated by the nationwide crack epidemic.
Rick Jr.’s family struggled to get by, and his parents separated when he was just six years old. His mother left for the suburbs, and so he was primarily raised by his father Richard “Rick” Wershe Sr., a small-time hustler.
As White Boy Rick shows, Rick Jr. (played by Richie Merritt) grew up exposed to Detroit’s criminal underworld, especially since Rick Sr. (played by Matthew McConaughey) sold guns illegally. The film reveals the strain this placed on their relationship, but it downplays some of Rick Jr.’s early criminal activity, which included burglaries he committed with the Curry Brothers Gang.
However, the film does show Rick Jr.’s early friendship with some of the gangsters, setting the stage for his descent into the Detroit underworld.
The True Story Of How “White Boy Rick” Became The Youngest FBI Informant
Sony Pictures EntertainmentRichie Merritt and Matthew McConaughey in a scene from White Boy Rick (2018).
One of the most shocking parts of Richard Wershe Jr.’s true story, which White Boy Rick highlights, is his involvement with the FBI as an informant. The film portrays Rick Jr. getting pulled into this role almost by accident, but in reality, the FBI was very deliberate in selecting him for the job.
The FBI saw potential in Rick Jr. due to his connections with his father’s criminal associates and decided to recruit him to provide intelligence on the Curry brothers and other gangsters involved in Detroit’s drug scene.
Perhaps the biggest change the movie made to the narrative was its depiction of Rick Sr. The film implied that Rick Sr. was unaware of his teen son’s undercover work, and that Rick Jr. had started his job behind his father’s back so that his dad wouldn’t face charges for his gun-smuggling business. But in reality, Rick Sr. knew exactly what his son was doing.
Detroit Free Press/ZUMA Press Inc/Alamy Stock PhotoRichard Wershe Jr. on his way to court in 1988 with his parents and his lawyer.
In fact, the real Rick Sr. had a longtime relationship with the FBI, and when agents offered him a cash payment for Rick Jr.’s services, Rick Sr. said, “I took the money. I wasn’t doing all that well at the time. And I thought it was the right thing — keep some drug dealers off the street and get paid for it.”
And so, at just 14, Rick Jr. became an informant, gathering valuable information for the FBI amidst some of Detroit’s most dangerous gangsters. According to the real Rick Jr., the FBI taught him exactly how to deal drugs so that he would fit in with local gangsters and gain their trust.
While the title of White Boy Rick may imply that Rick Jr. earned this name on the streets, that wasn’t the case. According to the Detroit Free Press, the nickname was coined by the press after his story gained public attention.
Despite Rick Jr.’s young age — and the fact that his employment went against FBI protocol — he became valuable to the agency, gathering crucial intel on major players in the drug trade. But it wasn’t easy work.
The Dangerous Game Of A Double Life
Al Profit/YouTubeNate Boone Craft, a convicted hitman who claims he was hired to kill Rick Wershe Jr.
The movie shows Richard Wershe Jr. diving deeper into the criminal underworld — and being more captivated by it — as he works with the FBI. While that’s true, the shift in real life was more gradual. And though he was heavily involved in the drug trade by age 16, he was never exactly a kingpin.
However, the film is correct in showing that Rick’s work with the FBI put his life at risk. The movie depicts two FBI agents, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Brian Tyree Henry, treating Rick as a pawn in their mission to take down major criminals. And the real Rick did blame the FBI for pushing him toward the criminal underworld: “I was brought into this life by law enforcement.”
As depicted in the movie, this “life” included terrifying incidents that nearly led to Rick’s murder. In November 1984, Rick was lured to a house, in which an unnamed “associate” shot him in the stomach with a .357 Magnum. Luckily for Rick, the shooter’s girlfriend panicked and called 911. The injury left Rick with a colostomy bag, which is also shown in the film.
But Rick wasn’t only targeted by the people he was actively working to expose. He also became the target of convicted hitman Nate “Boone” Craft. Craft claimed he had been hired to kill Rick by Gil Hill, a former police detective and Detroit city councilman — who also appeared in Beverly Hills Cop movies. (Hill had died by the time this allegation was made public.)
Craft was purportedly hired to stop Rick from exposing certain information he’d learned as an informant. As it turned out, Rick had discovered a massive Detroit police corruption scandal after a young boy was shot by the Curry Brothers Gang and the police refused to do anything about it. Ultimately, this was because the gang leader, Johnny Curry, had a connection to the city’s then-mayor Coleman Young — Curry was dating Young’s niece.
Though Rick luckily wasn’t killed, the FBI did stop working with him.
Richard Wershe Jr.’s Arrest And The End Of His Informant Days
Sony Pictures EntertainmentA scene from White Boy Rick, which raised awareness of the true story of Richard Wershe Jr.
An anonymous FBI agent later said the agency was ordered to back off from investigating the Detroit mayor. According to the agent, the nation didn’t want to deal with another potential mayoral scandal after Marion Barry, the mayor of Washington, D.C., had already been caught smoking crack.
The FBI likely also began to worry about drawing attention to their underage informant. And so Richard Wershe Jr. was turned loose by 1986.
Just a year later, in 1987, 17-year-old Richard Wershe Jr. was arrested for possession of eight kilos of cocaine with intent to distribute. The movie shows Rick’s arrest as a direct result of his involvement with the FBI, but it was also about his growing role in the drug world after his informant work.
In White Boy Rick, Rick’s arrest seems like a tragic conclusion to his story, especially since, as the film reveals, Rick ultimately spent over 30 years in prison for his crimes (the youngest nonviolent offender to do so).
It’s indeed unsettling that Rick no longer had any FBI protection after his value as an informant dropped. Furthermore, he had become so deeply embedded in a life of crime that he felt the need to keep dealing drugs.
The movie also emphasizes how the FBI didn’t step in to help him when he faced legal troubles. This portrayal closely mirrors real-life events, as Rick himself has said that the FBI eventually turned their backs on him.
But it would’ve been impossible for the film to give a full conclusion, especially since Rick was released from prison two years after the movie.
What Did White Boy Rick Leave Out?
Brian Kaufman/Detroit Free Press/ZUMA Press Inc/Alamy Stock PhotoRichard Wershe Jr. pictured in court in 2015, before his release from prison.
While White Boy Rick captures much of the drama in Richard Wershe Jr.’s life, it oversimplifies certain aspects of his story. The movie portrays Rick as a reluctant participant in the drug world, but in real life, he became more actively involved as he spent more time in it. Some viewers argued that the film made Rick appear to be a more innocent teen than he actually was.
One former Detroit investigative reporter also criticized the film’s rosier portrayal of Rick Sr. and his relationship with his son: “The facts didn’t fit their goal of telling a story of a flawed but good-hearted lower-class father. The premise led to grafting a fairy tale on to actual facts and incidents.”
However, others acknowledged the film for raising awareness of Rick Jr.’s life sentence under Michigan’s “650-Lifer Law,” which gave life sentences without parole for anyone found with over 650 grams of cocaine. This part is indisputably true: Rick was sentenced under this law, despite his young age.
Though this law was later revised (and is no longer in force) and Rick was eligible for parole in 2003, he was not paroled until 2017. And even then, he was transferred to another prison to serve out another sentence for a car theft ring he had once been involved with. Considering the powerful people that his work exposed, including Detroit police officials and political figures, it was clear that Rick’s sentence was about more than just the drugs.
Public DomainRichard Wershe Jr. pictured in 2023.
Rick was finally released in 2020. Since then, he has become an advocate for criminal justice reform, sharing his story to help others who’ve found themselves in similar situations. A 2018 movie obviously couldn’t cover this part of his life, but it’s clear that his story didn’t end after White Boy Rick.
Along with his work as an activist for nonviolent offenders, he also partnered with an organization called Team Wellness to help other former inmates find success after prison. He even started his own cannabis brand named The 8th after the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — which is supposed to protect citizens from cruel and unusual punishments.
In 2021, Rick sued the FBI and Detroit police for $100 million, alleging that his time as an informant amounted to child abuse. However, this lawsuit was dropped in 2023, with a federal judge claiming that he had waited too long to sue. That same year, Rick was also accused of attacking a girlfriend during an argument, but those charges were dropped months later.
Though he’s had a tumultuous life, Rick wants to make the most of his new chapter by being a voice for reform and inspiring change.
As he once put it: “I don’t want my legacy to be White Boy Rick.”
After reading the true story of “White Boy Rick,” learn about Frank Cullotta, the Chicago gangster who turned informant and helped inspire “Casino.” Then, check out some striking vintage photos of Detroit.
