chicago — CHICAGO (AP) — One of Chicago’s most notorious gang leaders asked Gov. J.B. Pritzker for clemency on Wednesday after… He received a pardon from President Donald Trump Earlier this spring, he argued that he had been “lost in a perpetual pattern of criminality” but had grown into a different person in the decades since his time in prison.
Larry Hoover, was a key leader of the Disciples gangHe was sentenced to up to 200 years in Illinois State Prison in 1973 in connection with a murder. He was sentenced decades later to life in federal prison for running a criminal enterprise behind bars. Even from prison, Hoover continues to make his mark, launching a prison-inspired fashion line, starting a political action committee and inspiring rap lyrics.
Trump commuted Hoover’s federal sentence in May, and he was transferred from a “supermax” federal prison in Colorado to a nearby facility in Colorado to continue serving his sentence in the state.
His attorneys sent a request to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board for a hearing on whether Hoover deserves clemency in the state case. The board makes recommendations to Pritzker, who makes the final decision on clemency. They argued in the suit that Hoover is now 74, has had three heart attacks while doing hard labor in Colorado State Prison, and has no desire to commit any more crimes.
Hoover wrote in a letter accompanying a plea to take responsibility for his crimes, saying he wasted his talents on “destructive and self-destructive endeavors” that harmed almost everyone around him.
“I have been lost in a perpetual pattern of criminality for many years,” he wrote.
He said he was no longer the person he was when he entered prison after spending 25 years in a “front row seat to the world’s passers-by” and that he had renounced all ties to any criminal organisation, including the Gangster Disciples. He said he suffers from a range of age-related illnesses and just wants to stay home with his family and grandchildren.
“There is no chance I will reoffend,” he wrote. “I know that some may remain unconvinced and choose to believe that I cannot be saved. I hope to prove them wrong, or at least, to ultimately allay their fears.”
A spokesman for Pritzker referred questions Wednesday to the Prisoner Review Board. The Associated Press left a message with the council’s clemency unit seeking comment.
The second-term Democratic governor has not publicly indicated what he will do. In May, Pritzker met with Hoover’s family members in Springfield where they discussed the clemency process.
“The Prisoner Review Board has given me a recommendation that includes this entire record, and I will review the entire record when that happens,” Pritzker told reporters the day after the meeting.
Hoover’s request comes as Pritzker’s frustration with Trump mounts. The governor has long been one of Trump’s biggest critics, and tensions between them have grown as the president escalates his crackdown on immigrants from Chicago. Last week, the Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court to allow publication National Guard Troops in the Chicago area.
Hoover was the founder of the Gangster Disciples group more than 50 years ago. To this day, Gangster Disciples remains one of Chicago’s most notorious street gangs. Federal prosecutors assert that the ring generated about $100 million in drug sales annually during the height of Hoover’s leadership.
Hoover was convicted of murder in 1973 after prosecutors accused him of ordering the killing of a gang member. He was sentenced to 150 to 200 years in state prison. According to prosecutors, he continued to run the gang from behind bars for more than 20 years, expanding it to more than twenty states. A federal jury convicted him in 1997 of dozens of crimes, including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. He received six life sentences.
In the 1990s, Hoover launched his “Ghetto Prisoner” fashion line, telling the Associated Press in 1995 that he hoped the clothes would help people come together. He also formed a political action committee that his supporters say inspired thousands to protest outside Chicago City Hall.
He remains a central figure in the rap world. Rick Ross’s 2010 single “BMF” paid tribute to Hoover’s power and influence. Rapper Yee, formerly known as Kanye West, and Drake have lobbied for Hoover’s release, with West raising Hoover’s case to Trump during an Oval Office meeting in 2018. Drake and Yee headlined a “Free Larry Hoover” benefit concert in Los Angeles in 2021.
___
Associated Press reporter Sophia Tarin in Chicago contributed to this report.