White Boy

Um, we're here today

on a motion for relief

from judgement filed

by Mr. Wershe.

As both parties know,

the parties are not...

Being in prison

the last 29 years-

is like being dead.

"Now based on my readings of...

The only connection I have

to the free world-

is this telephone.

You see your kids grow up-

but you have no part

of anything.

It's like living in

the ultimate purgatory.

"The case law

over the last decade

has demanded

that we treat juveniles

constitutionally different

than adults.

That difference requires us

to consider

the defendant's age

at the time when crime... "

Sitting here in front

of the judge-

scared as hell-

I know this is the best chance

of getting my life back.

And I know everything rides

on what this judge is

about to say.

Everyone knows who I am-

but no one knows the

real reason I'm in here.

The teenage drug dealer

nicknamed "White Boy Rick,"

was busted at age 17.

And has served 28 years

behind bars,

the longest ever in Michigan

for a non-violent juvenile.

You're not gonna

convince any judge

in this day and age

that somebody deserves life

for selling drugs.

How many of you have heard

about the drug problem

in our schools?

The only thing

that I legitimately remember

about the War on Drugs

in the '80s

when I was a child,

was seeing Nancy Reagan

on Diff'rent Strokes,

telling, you know, Gary Coleman,

"Just say no."

All drugs are dumb.

He was moving kilos.

When you're 17 years old

and you're moving kilos,

you know, you're at a status

of drug dealer

that most 17-year-olds

don't reach.

And I'll tell you

from what I can see

as a judge now,

the War on Drugs is over,

and drugs won.

Young Boys Incorporated,

originally, was the gang

that really institutionalized

and industrialized

the distribution of heroine.

Detroit's heroin market

gave way to cocaine

which quickly gave way

to crack cocaine.

Crack is a plague

of the inner cities

in this country,

and that's been especially true

in Detroit.

The city, literally,

right in front of your eyes

was falling apart.

It was chaos.

And nobody knew

how to handle it.

This chamber here holds

12 shotgun shells

and everything...

As part of a five-part series

on the crack problem,

I went on dozens and dozens

and dozens

of narcotics raids

with the No Crack Task Force.

Police!

Get them out!

It was crazy.

I mean, today, you probably

wouldn't get away with that.

Agents say

the gang was well armed.

In many of the homes,

they found assault weapons.

It was very, very violent.

We had officers shot,

uh, a couple of them killed.

And I was right

in the middle of it.

I was on, uh,

the drug squad for the FBI.

But in the course

of some of these raids,

they discovered a cache

of videotapes.

And this is one

of the drug homes

owned by the Chambers Brothers,

the notorious drug gang.

Money, money, money!

We're rich, goddamn it!

A hundred and fifty

thousand dollars. Cash.

They go through the homes.

The faucets, 24 karat gold.

And this was amazing stuff.

Once upon a time,

drug dealers was truly idolized.

They had all the man toys

that they wanted.

Cars, planes, housing,

weapons.

The money was just unlimited.

And it becomes a problem

because it's a cash business.

Should we

throw these ones away, man,

since we got $500,000?

What do you do

with all that cash?

I tell you what we can do,

we can give it to the poor.

That's exactly what I said, too,

we'll just donate those

to the poor.

It seemed like every week,

a new drug gang emerged.

The Chambers Brothers,

Best Friends,

Young Boys Incorporated,

Maserati Rick,

Johnny Curry and Leo Curry

had started a drug organization.

Say, for instance,

I got a key of cocaine,

and two or three keys

of cocaine.

You might have

a hundred bales of weed.

I make more off this cocaine

than you do off the weed

with less headaches.

That's how I got into that game.

When we talk

about Young Boys Incorporated,

or the Chambers Brothers,

there's not one single

white person involved

in any of those gangs.

During the coverage

of the Chambers Brothers,

I had a conversation

with a source or sources

who said, "You know,

there's this kid

who's dealing cocaine.

Richard Wershe, Jr. He's 17.

And he's white,

in a largely

black-dominated world.

And his nickname

is "White Boy Rick."

The teenage drug dealer

nicknamed "White Boy Rick."

"White Boy Rick."

"White Boy Rick."

His name is Richard Wershe, Jr.

One of the things