Summary
Larry Hoover was born in 1950 and founded the Chicago based gangster group called Gangster Disciples in 1969. In 1973, he was found guilty for planning and abetting the murder of a drug dealer in a Chicago neighborhood and sentenced to 150-200 years of prison.
While in the prison he started reform and welfare programs for the gangsters involved in criminal activities but the investigators discovered that underneath that façade of social work he was secretly unifying and expanding the influence of gangsters.
In 1995, he was indicted for running a criminal empire involved in conspiracy, extortion, money laundering, and drug-related offenses not just in Chicago but across the entire United States. In 1997, he was found guilty on all charges and was sentenced additional six life terms.
Larry Hoover’s supporters have been running a campaign for his release since the early 1990s. More recently, rap singer Ye (formerly Kanye West) has been at the forefront of that campaign. In 2018, he met the then US president Donald Trump to press him for presidential pardon. In 2021 he along with Drake held “Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert.”
All efforts of Larry Hoover and his supporters for parole, shortening of sentence or for shifting him to a prison of less security have been unfruitful.
Larry Hoover is currently jailed in ADX Maximum Security Prison, Florence, Colorado.