Man Who Was Made 'Drug Snitch' Age 14 Is Suing The Police
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A man who spent decades in prison for drug dealing and worked as a teenage police informant has filed a child abuse lawsuit and is seeking $100 million (£73m).
Richard Wershe Jr., otherwise known as 'White Boy Rick', is claiming he was coerced into assisting police while he was a helpless teenager.
The 52-year-old, who inspired the movie White Boy Rick, 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.
The lawsuit alleges that his troubles in the 1980s were related to the pressures of pleasing local police and federal agents who used him as an informant, repeatedly sent him into drug dens and abandoned him when he got in legal trouble.
Wershe says that he was coerced to become an informant when he was 14 before being 'used, abused, reused, and re-abused' and then abandoned when he was charged.
Revealing his plans, Wershe said: "The justice system hasn't been fair to me over the last 33 years.
"This needed to be done. The truth absolutely needed to be told.
"Everything that we say will be backed up by documents and FBI agents."
According to VICE, he added: "Had I not been an informant for the task force, I would never have gotten involved with drug gangs or criminality of any sort."
His attorney, Nabih Ayad, acknowledged that Detroit and others named in the lawsuit will likely argue that Wershe's constitutional claims are too old to bring to court.
The lawsuit states: "This is a unique case.
"Our Constitution, our justice system, and God-given right to all humanity calls on this court to finally bring justice to a man whose life has been taken from him at the tender age of 14 all the way up to 51 years of age."
Detroit police spokesman Rudy Harper declined to comment, saying the department hasn't seen the lawsuit.
Wershe's life 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.
