The Michigan parole board has voted to release a Detroit-area man who's been in prison for 29 years for drug crimes committed when he was a teenager.
The board met Friday to discuss the case of Richard Wershe (WER'-shee), who was known on the streets as "White Boy Rick." He could be released from prison by mid-August, although he also has another sentence pending in Florida.
Wershe was 17 when he was caught with cocaine. He turns 48 next week. Wershe says he worked as an FBI informant and reported corrupt Detroit police officers but wasn't given leniency.
Wershe was sentenced to life in prison in 1988. In June, he told parole board members that he's been rehabilitated and knows drugs destroy communities.
