'White Boy Rick' Says Coleman Young Thought He Was a 'Stool Pigeon' For Cooperating

Richard "White Boy Rick" Wershe Jr., who was convicted of cocaine trafficking as a teenager, and has been behind bars for 26 years, says he can't get paroled because he cooperated with authorities and went up against Detroit's power structure, helping put away dirty cops and relatives and friends of former Mayor Coleman A. Young, WDIV reports. He also cooperated in an investigation against former homicide cop and City Councilman Gil Hill.

"I think that there's no doubt that it's related to my cooperation about Gil Hill and about police corruption in Detroit," Wershe , 45, tells WDIV's Kevin Dietz in a prison interview in northern Michigan.

"I thought any mayor would love to have corrupt cops off of their force, but to Coleman Young I was a stool pigeon," he adds.

WDIV reports that Wershe has served more prison time than any juvenile offender in Michigan history and he can't get paroled for some unknown reason. He was given a parole hearing in 2003 and hasn't been given one since.

Wershe cooperated with federal and local law enforcement before and after his arrest in the late 1980s, and was a key player in an FBI sting in the early 1990s while in prison.

The sting resulted in the arrests of several crooked cops and Mayor Young's common-law-brother in law Willie Volsan and Young's niece, Cathy Volsan. Charges were eventually dropped against the niece, who Wershe had dated before going off to prison.

Wershe says he was promised by law enforcement that he would get out of prison early for his cooperation.

"I embarrassed a lot of people. But all I did was what I was asked and all I did was tell the truth," he told WDIV.

He said he also ruffled feathers when he cooperated against Gil Hill, who was under investigation for allegedly covering up a murder of a 13-year-old boy who was accidentally killed in a drive-by-shooting. Hill was the head of Detroit Police homicide at the time, and authorities suspected a drug gang, headed by the mayor's niece's husband, was involved. Hill was never charged.

Wershe was convicted under a state drug law at the time that required he be given life without parole. The law was eventually changed and he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.

Many current and former people in law enforcement and attorneys think it's time for Wershe to go free.

Mike Cox, the former Michigan attorney general, told WDIV:

"GIven the change in the law, his age, when he was convicted and the 26 years he has served, I don't see the point of keeping him (locked) up any longer, unless he has been a discipline problem in prison."

WDIV couldn't reach Gil Hill for comment.

Earlier coverage: