1950–present
Latest News: Larry Hoover Gets Commutation from President Trump
President Donald Trump has commuted the federal life sentence of Larry Hoover, but the 74-year-old notorious gang leader isn’t leaving prison anytime soon.
The commutation applies to Hoover’s federal conviction in 1997 on 40 criminal counts, including conspiracy, extortion, and drug charges. However, Hoover, who founded the Gangster Disciples street gang in Chicago, will remain in prison for his 1973 conviction in Illinois state court for the murder of 19-year-old drug dealer William “Pooky” Young. He received a sentence of 150 to 200 years in prison for the killing.
According to his attorneys, Hoover was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility—also known as ADX Florence—in Colorado in solitary confinement. He was no longer in federal custody as of May 29, the day after the president issued his commutation.
Hoover’s son, Larry Hoover Jr., appeared on The Breakfast Club radio show after the commutation and said the family will continue to advocate for his release from state prison. Hoover has a parole hearing later this year. “I’m not saying that my father wasn’t in [gang] leadership at one point and wasn’t involved in the streets, but he’s had a transformation,” Hoover Jr. said. “He was an illiterate, dyslexic child when he went to jail. He taught himself how to read, he taught himself how to become a man.”
Who Is Larry Hoover?
Larry Hoover grew up in Chicago and became the leader of the Supreme Gangsters, which merged with a rival gang to become the Black Gangster Disciple Nation. In 1973, Hoover was sentenced to 150 to 200 years in prison for killing a drug dealer. Despite attempts to portray himself as reformed, he was indicted in 1995 for continuing to orchestrate gang activity from prison and convicted two years later on 40 criminal counts. In May 2025, President Donald Trump commuted Hoover’s federal life sentence.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Larry Hoover
BORN: November 30, 1950
BIRTHPLACE: Jackson, Mississippi
CHILDREN: Larry, Larry Jr., and Tyree
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Sagittarius
Early Life of Crime
Larry Hoover, also known as “King Larry,” was born on November 30, 1950, in Jackson, Mississippi. His parents moved the family north to Chicago when Hoover was 4 years old. By age 13, he was on the streets with a group called the Supreme Gangsters, engaging in petty crimes such as theft and mugging. His criminal activity soon evolved to shootings and assaults.
Hoover ascended to a leadership role as the Supreme Gangsters grew, and he later joined forces with rival gang kingpin David Barksdale to form the Black Gangster Disciple Nation. In 1969, after Barksdale was wounded in a shooting, Hoover took charge of the Gangster Disciples. The gang assumed control of the South Side drug trade, making more than $1,000 a day in profits.
Murder of William Young
By his early 20s, Hoover had been in and out of prison several times and had endured at least six separate shooting attempts on his life. However, he was unable to escape the reach of the law when he and another Gangster Disciple, Andrew Howard, were charged with murdering drug dealer William Young on February 26, 1973. The two men were convicted and sentenced to 150 to 200 years in prison, with Hoover sent to the maximum-security Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois.
But Hoover’s power seemed only to grow inside Stateville. He began protecting other inmates, who in turn became devotees and new recruits for the Gangster Disciples. His control over the other prisoners was recognized by the warden’s office, which began looking to Hoover as a positive influence to quell riots and uprisings within the prison system.
Hoover, inspired by the biography of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, began discouraging violence among his followers. Instead, he made education mandatory for members of the Gangster Disciples and instructed his army to “go to school, learn trades and develop... talents and skills, so that we will become stronger in society.”
Changing the G.D. of “Gangster Disciple” to “Growth and Development,” Hoover’s move to reform began gaining positive attention from the outside. Growth and Development created nonprofit organizations that registered voters, a music label that helped needy children, a series of peaceful protests to fight the closing of public programs and even a clothing line.
Dubious prison officials, however, saw Hoover’s good intentions as a ploy to get out of prison and resume his illegal activities. While friends and allies on the outside lobbied to get Hoover paroled for his contributions to society, law enforcement agents insisted that he was finding new ways to expand his criminal ventures. The Gangster Disciples had grown to more than 15,000 members in at least five states. Their drug profits had also risen well into the millions of dollars—all of which gang members attributed to the leadership of Hoover.
Transferred to another prison in Vienna, Illinois, Hoover was living a luxurious lifestyle that involved new clothes, expensive jewelry, specially prepared meals, and private visitations from friends and loved ones. Suspicious authorities began wire-tapping Hoover’s private meetings and discovered that he was running the Gangster Disciple group from within the prison system.
Worse still, informants revealed that Hoover’s nonprofit organizations were actually fronts for laundering drug money. According to the testimony of Gangster Disciple members, none of the proceeds for any of the so-called charities actually went to helping anyone in need.
Federal Charges and Commutation
On August 31, 1995, after a five-year undercover investigation by the federal government, Hoover was indicted on drug conspiracy charges. He was taken from his prison cell and moved to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago to stand trial.
In 1997, Hoover was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to six life sentences. He began serving his sentence at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado.
The case received renewed attention decades later in December 2021, when rappers Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Drake hosted a “Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert” at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to promote prison and sentencing reform.
In May 2025, President Donald Trump commuted Hoover’s federal sentence amid a series of pardons. However, Hoover remains in prison for his Illinois state sentence for Young’s murder.
Wife and Children
Hoover has been in a long-term relationship with Winndye Jenkins for more than 50 years. In January 2020, the state of Colorado legally recognized the couple as married. They have one son, Larry Hoover Jr.
Hoover has two other children, Larry “Lil Larry” Bernard and Tyree Hoover, from prior relationships. Each has advocated for his release.
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