Many Americans may not know Larry Hoover Sr. beyond a passing reference to him in Rick Ross’ 2010 hit single “B.M.F (Blowin’ Money Fast),” in which Ross sings, “I think I’m Big Meech (Woo), Larry Hoover ...”
But on Wednesday, President Donald Trump commuted the six life sentences that Hoover, a Chicago gang founder, was serving for a 1997 conviction in federal court.
Trump commuted the sentences after a campaign by hip-hop artist Ye, aka Kanye West, now Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband, who lobbied Trump in the Oval Office to consider releasing Hoover.
Hoover, though, will not be freed. He will be transferred from the federal “Supermax” prison in Colorado, where is held now, to a state prison in Illinois to serve the rest of a 200-year sentence for crimes he was separately convicted of in state court.
Hoover founded the Gangster Disciples, a Chicago-based criminal organization that sold cocaine and other narcotics beginning in the early 1970s.
Called the “chairman of the board” and “the king” of the gang, he was also declared “one of the most notorious criminals in Illinois history.” Prosecutors have said in court filings that “Hoover directed violence and drug trafficking in Chicago from at least 1970 until 1995.”
Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that the Gangster Disciples profited $109 million each year from the sale of narcotics, “a substantial proportion of which went straight to Hoover’s family’s pockets.”
Praise for the commutation
Hoover’s attorneys praised Trump’s decision.
“The Courts have demonstrated a complete unwillingness to consider Mr. Hoover’s considerable growth and complete rehabilitation,” Jennifer Bonjean and Justin Moore told CBS News in a statement.
“Despite the Court’s unwillingness to do the right thing, Mr. Hoover has been able to keep his voice alive through the incredible work of many advocates and supporters," they added. "Thankfully, Mr. Hoover’s pleas were heard by President Trump who took action to deliver justice for Mr. Hoover.”
Larry Hoover Jr., Hoover’s son, has called for his father’s release for years and was featured in the 2021 Kanye West song “Jesus Lord.”
Hoover has said from prison that he changed the name of his group from “Gangster Disciples” to “Growth and Development.” He said he now discourages violence and has made education mandatory for his followers, pushing inmates to develop job skills they can use after they are released.
Hoover’s family has said he is no longer associated with the Gangster Disciples.
Prosecutors opposed release
But federal prosecutors recently have said Bureau of Prisons intelligence records show that Hoover did not want to be disassociated from the gang.
In September, attorneys for the Justice Department argued in court that “Hoover remains the heralded leader of the GDs, despite the intensive monitoring to which he is subject at Florence ADX,” which is the highest-level security prison in the United States and home to convicted terrorists and Juán "El Chapo" Guzmán.
They strongly urged the court to decline any effort to release Hoover as part of the “First Step Act” supported by Kardashian, which Trump signed into law during his first administration.
“Hoover has well earned his life sentence, and he is not the type of defendant Congress intended to benefit in enacting the First Step Act,” prosecutors wrote.
Joshua Dubin, executive director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law, and fellow attorney Justin More worked to get Hoover’s sentence commuted. They said in a joint statement that they do not believe Hoover has any current involvement in the Gangster Disciples.
They pointed to a 2022 letter Hoover wrote to the federal judge overseeing his previous clemency requests, in which he wrote, “I have long since renounced my association with any and all criminal organizations and their membership.”
He added: “I am no longer a member, leader, or even an elder statesman of the Gangster Disciples. I want nothing to do with it now and forever.”
Dubin said he spoke with Trump in February. “His biggest focus was on the length of time that Mr. Hoover spent in prison, what he had done to transform himself, and whether I thought he was any risk to society,” Dubin said.
More, who said he took on the case eight years ago, recalled first meeting Hoover, saying that “the person that you are confronted with stands in stark difference to how he is portrayed in the media.”
The two lawyers called for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to commute Hoover's state sentence.
“There is no purpose in returning a 74-year-old man in failing health to prison after 52 years of incarceration," they said. "Mr. Hoover has now received a full and complete commutation for his federal drug convictions. The Governor of Illinois must follow suit. Justice demands that Mr. Hoover’s time be considered served.”
During a 2018 Oval Office meeting, Ye urged Trump to commute Hoover’s sentence.
“The reason why they imprisoned him is because he started doing positive for the community,” Ye said. “He started showing that he actually had power, that he wasn’t just one of a monolithic voice, but he could wrap people around.
“So there’s theories that there’s infinite amounts of universe and there’s alternate universe,” Ye added. “So it’s very important for me to get Hoover out, because in an alternate universe, I am him. And I have to go and get him free because he was doing positive inside of Chicago.”
After news of the commutation broke Wednesday, Ye posted on X, “WORDS CAN’T EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE FOR OUR DEVOTED ENDURING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP FOR FREEING LARRY HOOVER.”
