'White Boy' Rick Wershe to be resentenced Sept. 18

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After spending almost 30 years behind bars on drug charges as a minor, Rick Wershe will be resentenced later this month.

The decision was announced by Judge Dana Hatthaway Friday morning just moments after the motion for retrial was heard in court.

Wershe's mother, Darlene McCormick was in court Friday and she's hoping to bring her baby home soon.

"I guess he just wants to hope for the best and just be calm about it," said Darlene McCormick. "He's spent enough time here. He needs to spend time with me."

The odds of White Boy Rick leaving prison after being sentenced to life behind bars for drug dealing have improved dramatically. Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Dana Hathaway rejecting arguments that Rick should be left to rot.

"When a defendant's sentence violates the Constitution, recent case law holds that the remedy for that violation is resentencing," Hathaway said in court.

Hathaway ruled that Wershe's youth should be considered when he is resentenced in two weeks. At the time he became a notorious drug dealer, Wershe was only a teenager.

His mother came to court hoping to take him home to go fishing, but she left court hopeful their reunion will only be delayed, and not denied.

"What's going to be the first thing you do when you see him?" asked one reporter.

"Hug him and kiss him, I don't know," McCormick said. "He needs to be out. He’s done his time.

Hathaway said she will rule on this case in two weeks.

One hurdle cleared but more remain - the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office filed an emergency motion Friday night, seeking a stay of Hathaway's decision with the Michigan Court of Appeals. 

Rick Wershe was arrested at the age of 18 for moving eight kilos of cocaine. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1988. 

Since then, life sentences for minors under the Michigan Constitution are no longer allowed. Although Wershe’s sentence was changed to allow the possibility of parole, he still sits behind bars.

In prison, Wershe cooperated with the FBI to help break up drug rings and solve other crimes. Yet each time Wershe has come up for parole, it's been denied.

Wershe will be resentenced on Sept. 18.