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Larry Hoover
American gang leader (born 1950)

Larry Hoover Sr. (born November 30, 1950) is a former gangster and kingpin, known for founding the Gangster Disciples, a notorious Chicago street gang. Serving multiple life sentences at ADX Florence in Colorado, Hoover was convicted of crimes including conspiracy, extortion, and money laundering. Prominent rapper Kanye West has actively advocated for Hoover’s release, urging President Donald Trump to commute his sentence, which Trump eventually did on May 28, 2025, as noted by the Chicago Sun-Times. Despite the commutation, Hoover remains incarcerated due to his 1973 murder conviction but is now eligible for parole under Illinois law.

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Early and personal life

Hoover was born on November 30, 1950, in Jackson, Mississippi. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, at the age of four.11 At the age of 13, Hoover dropped out of junior high and joined a gang called the Supreme Gangsters, where he was involved in petty theft and muggings.

Hoover was formerly associated with GDN lieutenant A'Marion Taylor. He also involved himself in fighting cold cases about murders that are only now coming to light, also tied to the organization.1213

Biography

Gang and impact

In 1969, Hoover and David Barksdale called a truce and decided to combine both of their respective rival gangs (Supreme Gangsters and Black Disciples) together to become the Black Gangster Disciple Nation (BGDN).141516

Death of David Barksdale and Disciple takeover

In 1974, after the leader of the Black Disciples, David Barksdale, died of kidney failure stemming from injuries incurred in a 1970 assassination attempt, Hoover took over the reins of the Black Gangster Disciple Nation. He deemed himself the chairman of the crew. At the time, the Disciples had control of Chicago's South Side turf. Under Hoover's rule, the Black Gangster Disciple Nation took over a majority of the Chicago drug trade. In 1978, while incarcerated, Hoover formed the Folk Nation, which added all gangs in his personal likeliness and interest to relate to the BGDN such as the Lady, Satan, Maniac Latin, Spanish Gangster Disciples, Ambrose, the Two-Two Boys, Two Sixers, Simon City Royals, North Side Insane Popes, La Raza Nation, Spanish Cobras, Imperial Gangsters, Harrison Gents, and the Latin Eagles. The Folk Nation maintained their ground from within prison property to drug-ruffled streets.

While Hoover was incarcerated, he ran the gang's illicit drug trade both in prison and on the streets, starting from Chicago's West Side and later extending throughout the United States. Similarly, certain parts of the affiliated Folk Nation alliance began to expand to parts of the United States Midwest. As of 2022, the Gangster Disciples has confirmed expansions to Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Birmingham, Cincinnati, Memphis and Hoover's birthplace of Jackson.171819

The Folk Nation, including that of the Black Gangster Disciple Nation, also personified a rivalry with the People Nation, which included other gangs such as the Almighty Black P. Stone Nation (run by Jeff Fort, who today shares the same prison facility as Hoover and is also a Mississippi-born native),20 Almighty Vice Lord Nation, Latin Kings, Mickey Cobras, South Side Almighty Insane Popes (the South Side faction were rivals with the Simon City Royals, Satan Disciples and Two Sixers, causing them to splinter themselves from the North Side faction), Almighty Saints and the Four Corner Hustlers.21 The Gangster Disciples also engaged in a city rivalry with South Memphis crew, the Love Murdering Gangsters (formerly LMG Mafia).22

Dispute with the Black Disciples

In 1989, the Black Gangster Disciples began having leadership problems as they noticed Hoover's leadership of the Folk Nation alliance deteriorated once he shifted his sole focus toward the now-splintered Gangster Disciples.23 The decline of the BGDN leadership infuriated a majority of its members and resulted in the two gangs separating into the aforementioned Gangster Disciples and the reincarnated Black Disciples. One instance of their split and later animosity was a drug-dealing dispute in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago's South Side, which escalated into a shooting that killed several people.24 By early 1993, Hoover claimed to have renounced his violent criminal past and became an urban political celebrity in Chicago. Hoover proclaimed that the GD initials had changed to mean "Growth & Development."

As of July 2022, Hoover confirms that he no longer affiliates with the Gangster Disciples and wants "no part" of the gang "whatsoever". He also claims that he was "no longer the Larry Hoover people sometimes talk about, or he who is written about in the papers, or the crime figure described by the government."25262728 Many believed it was a ruse for his plan to have his sentence reduced or either way appealed.29

Ronnie Bo, formerly known as a national spokesman for the Gangster Disciples, has also officially denounced his association to the gang in a new song titled “Digital Social Hour."

1973: William Young murder

On the evening of February 26, 1973, William "Pooky" Young, a 19-year-old alleged drug dealer, was abducted and shot dead in an alley near 68th Street and Union Avenue in Englewood, a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. His killing was ordered by Hoover after his name was mentioned as one of three people accused of stealing drugs and money from the gang six days earlier.30 Andrew Howard was arrested on March 16, 1973, while Hoover went in to hiding in Chicago. On September 21, 1973, Hoover was driving a stolen truck and was asked to stop for a traffic violation. He tried to run away from the scene but was arrested. The police discovered that he was also wanted in William Young's murder. In October 1973, Howard and Hoover were both indicted for murder and in December both were sentenced to 150 to 200 years in prison. Hoover was sent to Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois, to serve out his term.31

1997: Criminal enterprise conviction

While in prison for murder, on August 22, 1995, after a 17-year undercover joint investigation by the Illinois Department of Corrections, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Hoover was indicted for conspiracy, extortion, money laundering, drug-related offenses, and continuing to engage in a criminal enterprise.32 A lengthy federal investigation using wiretaps led to Hoover getting arrested. Prosecutors alleged that his gang had 30,000 "soldiers" in 35 states and made $100 million a year. He was arrested at the Dixon Correctional Center by federal agents, and moved to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago to stand trial. In 1997, Hoover was found guilty on all charges. He was sentenced to three additional life terms in federal prison. Hoover was serving his sentence at the ADX Florence in Fremont County, Colorado.3334

Attempts to appeal

In 2021, Hoover, having hired Bill Cosby's former attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, tried to appeal his sentence under the First Step Act, but was denied by U.S. Judge Harry Leinenweber.3536

Federal commutation

On May 28, 2025, Hoover's federal life sentences were commuted by President Donald Trump.37

Other endeavors

Book

In 1996, Hoover's teachings were published in a book titled The Blueprint of a New Concept: From Gangster Disciple to Growth & Development.383940

The Larry Hoover Project

In 2014, Winndye Jenkins-Hoover, who had been Hoover's partner since 1968, created the Larry Hoover Project, aimed to give her husband clemency and have his criminal history reviewed.41

Kanye West involvement

Chicago rapper Kanye West has, for over a decade, been a vocal advocate for Hoover's release from prison. On a demo version of his song "Hurricane", which was meant to appear on his since-scrapped project, Yandhi, West suggested calling his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, to help release Hoover, following Kardashian's success on working on U.S. president Donald Trump to free a number of federal prisoners.42 On October 11, 2018, during a luncheon with Trump, West pleaded for clemency for Hoover.43

West's 2021 album, Donda, contains the track, "Jesus Lord", and its remix, "Jesus Lord, Pt. 2", which both feature a recorded message by Hoover's son, Larry Jr., in which he discusses the "cracks" in America's criminal justice system, and talks about the impact of Hoover's incarceration on his family.44 Three months later, on December 9, 2021, West, along with fellow rapper Drake, hosted a Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; it was livestreamed via Amazon Prime Video.45 Drake's performance and cry for Hoover's clemency was accidentally edited off of the original stream, but was later revised.46 The main goal of the concert was to bring awareness to Hoover's case; West and Drake called for the release of Hoover and sought to raise awareness about prison and sentencing reform in the United States.47 Though West and Drake had previously been involved in an ongoing rivalry,4849 they decided to put an end to their feud, focusing on putting their fame and influence to use by bringing awareness to Hoover's case by organizing the benefit concert.

West also advocates for both Young Thug and Hoover's release on the track "River" (of his collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign, Vultures 2) with the lyrics "Free Larry, free Young Thug".50

Hoover appears via phone from prison on multiple skits of Geto Boys' 1996 album, The Resurrection, where he discusses his views on the prison system and the youth of the black community. By association with the Geto Boys, Rap-A-Lot Records founder J. Prince has shown support for Hoover following his incarceration and as of 2022, is calling for him to be pardoned.51

Rapper Rick Ross has mentioned Hoover and Black Mafia Family co-founder Big Meech by names on the chorus of his 2010 Teflon Don single, "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)": "I think I'm Big Meech, Larry Hoover / Whippin' work, hallelujah".52

Hoover is mentioned in rapper Killer Mike's 2023 song "Down by Law," which serves as the opening track of his album Michael, which won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in 2024.53

Further reading

  • Cooley, Will (2017). "Jim Crow Organized Crime: Black Chicago's Underground Economy in the Twentieth Century". In Weems, Robert; Chambers, Jason (eds.). Building the Black Metropolis: African American Entrepreneurship in Chicago. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. pp. 147–170. ISBN 978-0252082948.

References

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