MIAMI – A defense attorney who is representing a famed former FBI informant known as White Boy Rick is disputing a woman’s report about crimes at his apartment in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood.
Richard Wershe Jr., whose time as a drug dealer and undercover informant in Detroit inspired a movie of the same name starring Matthew McConaughey, is facing domestic violence charges on Thursday in Miami-Dade County court.
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Miami police officers arrested Wershe, 53, on Tuesday after accusing him of attacking a woman, who was his girlfriend of four months, during a fight at his condo at Quantum on the Bay. His girlfriend told police that he had punched her and stolen her jewelry after a fight stemming from Wershe calling her a different woman’s name during sex.
Prosecutors charged Wershe with robbery by sudden snatching and misdemeanor battery. Attorney Nabih Ayad, who is representing Wershe, told Detroit’s ABC affiliate, WXYZ, that the woman had lied and Wershe was actually the victim.
“When he told her, ‘Bring back my watch,’ she refused. When he told her, ‘Bring back my watch, or I’m going to the police,’ she beat him to the punch and filed a fake report that he punched her,” Ayad said.
Ayad also said he was in communication with Miami Police Department leadership and reported Wershe had text messages to support his version of events.
“We intend to file a motion to dismiss for lack of probable cause and show the court this was a fake police report that was made and this individual indeed robbed him as opposed to being a victim,” Ayad said.
Wershe became a federal informant at age 14. His work resulted in the convictions of several Detroit drug kingpins. He was later arrested in 1987 with 9,000 grams of cocaine and $30,000 cash. He spent decades behind bars in both Michigan and Florida before his release in 2020.
After his appearance in Miami-Dade County court, Wershe bonded out of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.