It’s been one of the most popular claims on social media, particularly among enemies of the president: Donald Trump pardoned Larry Hoover, one of the most notorious gangbangers in all of American history, and he’s let the man off the hook.
The truth is a great deal more complicated than that. But first, we have to get into who Larry Hoover is, what Trump did, what the reaction was, and what the buried lede is.
Hoover, 74, was the co-founder of the Gangster Disciples in the late-1960s. The official name of the Chicago-based gang — to the extent gangs have official names — was the Black Gangster Disciples Nation, born out of an alliance and merger between the Black Disciples and High Supreme Gangsters.
Hoover’s crimes were legion, to the extent that he was billed “one of the most notorious criminals in Illinois history,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
In 1973, he was arrested for the drug-related murder of William “Pooky” Young in the South Side of Chicago, for which he was sentenced to 150 to 200 years in prison. He remained in charge of the Gangster Disciples despite being in prison, although he broke with the gang life sometime between the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Nevertheless, in 1997, a federal investigation convicted him of various gang-related criminal enterprise counts, landing him with three additional life terms. He’s currently incarcerated at ADX Florence in Colorado, a jail known unaffectionately as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.”
In a 2022 public comment concomitant with his bid to try to get a sentence under the First Step Act — signed by President Trump during his first administration in 2018 — Hoover noted 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.”
In his letters, he said that he was aware “anecdotally that some misguided people” view him as a symbol of the gangster life, something he says he regrets.
“I wish this were not so,” Hoover wrote in letters.
“Regardless, these people are apart from me and do what they do with zero encouragement or direction from me,” Hoover wrote. “To be clear, if I had any ability to influence them, I’d ask that they’d forget me and forsake the gang life forever.”
He added that he “was lost in an enduring pattern of criminality those many years ago … I have long since renounced my association with any and all criminal organizations and their membership.”
“I am no longer a member, leader, or even an elder statesman of the Gangster Disciples,” Hoover added. “I want nothing to do with it now and forever.”
And, in late May, he seemed to get his wish — at least part of it.
From the BBC, May 29:
As part of a spree of more than two dozen clemency actions this week, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday commuted the federal prison sentence of Larry Hoover, the founder of a notorious Chicago street gang.
Hoover was the leader of the Gangster Disciples and in the 1990s was given six life sentences on conspiracy, extortion, drug and other criminal charges.
The Chicago Tribune, reporting on the two-page order, said he was to be released “with no further fines, restitution, probation or other conditions.”
“The Courts have demonstrated a complete unwillingness to consider Mr. Hoover’s rehabilitation,” said Hoover’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean.
“Sometimes the courts do not do the right thing. But thanks to the work of so many advocates and supporters keeping Mr. Hoover’s voice alive and ultimately the president taking action to deliver justice, we are thrilled to see Mr. Hoover released.”
The commutation led to a flurry of speculation on social media:
President Trump just commuted the sentence of Larry Hoover, the infamous former gang leader from Chicago
Hoover, the co-founder of Chicago gang Gangster Disciples, has been serving multiple life sentences since the 1970s.
He has multiple state and federal convictions,… pic.twitter.com/WZzRgA1IGX
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) May 28, 2025
Derek Chauvin next. This is the ground work for that. He thinks it’ll soften the blow.
— KellywoodFam (@KellywoodCircus) May 28, 2025
Trump commuted the sentence of Larry Hoover who co-founded the Gangster Disciples(Chicago) & had been serving multiple life sentences.
Hoover was sentenced to life in prison for murder in the 70s. He was given another life sentence in the 90s for operating a criminal enterprise. pic.twitter.com/eMtJxXc2yc— Anarie Whit (@anarie_whit) May 29, 2025
However, this raises a question into just what Donald Trump commuted — which is to say, is murderer Larry Hoover a free man?
As those of you who followed Donald Trump’s lawfare travails throughout 2023 and 2024 probably remember somewhere in the recesses of your noggin, state charges cannot be pardoned away by a president. That’s on the individual state where they were convicted. And, while Hoover’s murder charges may indeed have been part of a conspiracy that crossed state lines, the conviction was in an Illinois court.
Thus, the commutation involved the conspiracy charges for essentially running the Gangster Disciples, both from his time out on the streets and, especially, from behind bars.
From the Chicago Tribune:
The controversial move — part of a slew of clemency actions announced by the White House this week — appeared to have already sparked Hoover’s transfer out of the supermax prison compound in Florence, Colorado, that he’d called home for the past two decades.
But Hoover isn’t going free — he’s still serving a 200-year sentence for his state court conviction for murder. Officials with the Illinois Department of Corrections have previously said they would push for Hoover to finish his state sentence in federal prison due to security concerns.
On Wednesday afternoon, Hoover was listed in online state prison records as an inmate at Dixon Correctional Center in western Illinois, though it was unclear if he’d already made it there. The records show a parole date of October 2062.
As much as one does like the natural beauty of Colorado and the soaring majesty of the snow-topped Continental Divide, “Alcatraz of the Rockies” doesn’t exactly bring to mind happy thoughts. Thus, while the 74-year-old Hoover isn’t going to spend the rest of his life behind bars in a place he called “as close to Hell as possible,” he’ll still be behind bars until 2062 unless Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker or anyone else involved intervenes to commute his sentence or pardon him.
Pritzker’s office didn’t comment regarding the commutation, although Hoover’s lawyers seem to be working on the Illinois governor next.
In a statement, the team said, “There is no purpose in returning a 74-year-old man in failing health to prison after 52 years of incarceration. Mr. Hoover has now received a full and complete commutation for his federal drug convictions. The Governor of Illinois must follow suit,” per the BBC.
The governor of Illinois likely won’t because he’s in the running for president in 2028 and the Democrats seem determined to use this as a political cudgel against Donald Trump and anyone in his orbit.
For instance, here’s another Illinois Democrat possibly running for president — former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — complaining about the commutation on CNN:
Rahm Emanuel on President Trump commuting the federal sentence of Chicago gang co-founder Larry Hoover: “This is a notorious gang leader who had many, many people killed…I always thought, when I was growing up in politics, that the Republican Party was supposed to be the party… pic.twitter.com/5MWsHRBC1c
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 29, 2025
If the Democrats suddenly want to be the lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key party, go right ahead. Hoover is effectively their issue, and for a party that talked a big game about criminal justice reform and defunding the police in 2020, deciding to make Larry Hoover dying in prison a hill to die on is certainly a curious one, if not a bad one. Were they to be so consistent with laying down the law when it came to the men and women currently rioting in Los Angeles and other major cities over Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforcing immigration code, we’d be a far better country.
But make no mistake: It is their hill. Hoover has been behind bars continuously for 52 years and was in the federal pen for 28 on conspiracy charges. If they have new evidence that Hoover is involved in gang activity, he can be tried on it and sentenced to more time in ADX Florence. If not, he’ll be behind bars until 2062 or his natural life expires, or he can get a pardon at the state level. That’s the story.
That’s not how it was reported, however. It almost always took outlets a number of paragraphs to get to the point that this commutation had little to do with murder charges and more to do with the federal-level conspiracy charges. They also didn’t point out the amount of time he’s served on both, which isn’t inconsiderable, or his advanced age. The flashing-neon headline, to those who don’t pore over the facts, was Trump pardons murderous gangbanger! Why linger over the details?
As for whether or not President Trump made the right decision, that’s a different question entirely. Hoover is not a good man, and Chicago is still a much worse place for his actions. There are plenty of criminals deserving of life sentences, and Hoover certainly doesn’t seem like a bad candidate for one. If the prospect of higher office can keep Illinois’ leaders from granting the guy a commutation, nobody — nobody — not named Larry Hoover should lose sleep over it.
But let’s not distort the facts of what the president did. Most gangbangers can and do serve out their sentences for violent crimes in state prisons while posing no danger to the community. Assuming Illinois does its part, Larry Hoover will now be one of them.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.