White Boy Rick

July 16, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In 1984, a 14-year-old white kid living on Detroit's East Side started pointing out drug dealers from a stack of FBI photos in his living room. The agents were there to see his father, a gun-store manager and small-time hustler who knew them as customers. But it was the son, Richard "Ricky" Wersh Jr., who could name faces. Impressed, the FBI proposed something unorthodox: they wanted him to become a federal informant. His father left the choice to him. Ricky said yes. What followed was a story that would send him to prison for life at age 17—and keep him there for decades after everyone else caught under the same law had been released.

The making of an informant

Detroit in the mid-1980s was a city in collapse. The auto industry had fled, white flight had emptied neighborhoods, and crack cocaine filled the vacuum. The Curry twins—Johnny "Little Man" and Leo "Big Man"—ran much of the East Side drug trade from an opulent apartment building they used as a fortress and factory. They were connected to City Hall through Johnny's wife, Kathy Bolson, the niece of Detroit Mayor Coleman Young. The police department was deeply corrupt; homicide commander Gil Hill (who played Inspector Todd in Beverly Hills Cop) was later implicated in taking bribes and plotting hits.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:02) **Setting the Stage: Detroit in the 80s** - Josh and Chuck introduce the story of "White Boy Rick" Wershe, a 14-year-old FBI informant and drug runner in 1980s Detroit.
2 (04:05) **Rick's Early Life and the East Side** - Rick Wershe Jr. grows up on Detroit's East Side, a rare white family in a predominantly Black neighborhood experiencing white flight and the crack epidemic.
3 (06:21) **The FBI Connection Begins** - Rick's father knows FBI agents as customers from his gun-selling business, creating the entry point for Rick's involvement.
4 (08:34) **The 14-Year-Old Informant** - In spring 1984, FBI agents visit the Wershe home. Rick Sr. can't identify people in photos, but Rick Jr. pipes up and names key drug figures like the Curry twins.
5 (13:52) **An Off-the-Books Asset** - Rick becomes a confidential informant, but the FBI keeps it off the books, using his father's name as a cover.
6 (16:01) **A Teenager Living Large** - Over two years, the FBI pays Rick about $30,000 off the books to fund his lifestyle and drug buys.
7 (23:30) **Shot and Kept in the Game** - In November 1984, Rick is shot in the stomach by a gang member. He wants to quit, but the FBI pressures him to continue.

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Show Notes

Would you believe that Detroit’s crack epidemic in the mid-80s was overseen by one 16 year-old white kid who supplied all the coke? No? Well, that’s not quite true, so okay. The actual story is even more nutso than that.

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