''White Boy'' is a 2017 true crime documentary directed by Shawn Rech, written by Brandon Kimber, Seth Ferranti, and Scott Burnstein, and produced by Transition Studios. The documentary follows the story of

Richard Wershe Jr. Richard Wershe Jr. (born July 18, 1969), known as "White Boy Rick", is an American former drug trafficker and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant. The youngest known informant in the history of the FBI, Wershe became a confidential in ...

, aka “White Boy Rick,” an FBI informant and alleged cocaine kingpin in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

in the 1980s, who was sentenced to life in prison.

Synopsis

Richard Wershe Jr. was 14 years old when he started being groomed as an FBI informant and established as a drug dealer during the crack epidemic in Detroit. His intel led to the arrests of the brother of Detroit's mayor and several police officers. When it was discovered he was underage and agents were filing reports under his father's informant number, the FBI cut ties with him, but he continued to sell cocaine until his arrest a year later at age 17. Wershe Jr. was imprisoned for more than 30 years after being caught with eight kilos of cocaine in 1988. His sentence was in part a result of the 1978 “650 Lifer Law,” under which anyone found with over 650 grams of heroin or cocaine could be sentenced to life without parole. Wershe Jr. became one of the nation's longest-serving non-violent juvenile drug offenders. His case spawned the Detroit urban legend known as “White Boy Rick.” The documentary White Boy explores the relationships among Wershe Jr., Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, and Detroit city council member Gil Hill through revealing interviews with journalists, police, federal agents, and hit men, in an attempt to discover why Wershe Jr. was denied a parole hearing after the 650 Lifer Law was modified in 1998 to eliminate the life sentence without parole.

Reception

''White Boy'' earned the Audience Choice Award at the 2017 FREEP Film Festival. The film screened at the 2017 DOC NYC film festival, and the

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

cable network licensed the documentary in 2019. A narrative film based on aspects of Richard Wershe Jr.’s life, ''

White Boy Rick ''White Boy Rick'' is a 2018 American crime drama film directed by Yann Demange and written by Andy Weiss, Logan Miller, and Noah Miller. The film stars Richie Merritt, Matthew McConaughey, Bel Powley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brian Tyree Henry, R ...

'', was released in 2018.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 5635638 2017 films True crime 2010s English-language films Documentary films about Detroit