The Dichotomy of The Larry Hoover Commutation
Larry Hoover in 2021 at the prison in Florence, Colorado. Photo courtesy of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
As if Black Americans needed something else to drive a wedge between us, the President of the United States on Wednesday commuted the multiple life sentences of Chicago Gangster Disciples founder Larry Hoover. The leader of one of Chicago’s most infamous street gangs has been behind bars for three decades. Reaction to the news was swift across all social media platforms with some saying Hoover should have been left to die in prison. While others see him as somewhat of a folk hero in Chicago lore, similar to David Barksdale, founder of the Black Disciples. They praised the commutation. However, few have mentioned the precedent being set.
Chicago R&B crooner R. Kelly is currently in a federal prison serving a 30-year sentence for sex crimes.
One thing many people are not considering is what this could mean for R&B singer R. Kelly and the federal case currently ongoing with music executive Sean “Puffy” Combs. Kelly was convicted on federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering in 2022 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. In January of 2023, former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced she was dropping all state charges against Kelly for sex crimes. The controversial decision riled many of Kelly’s victims who wanted their day in court. Prosecutors in Hennepin County, Minnesota followed suit just three months later, saying their case, which involved the prostitution of a minor, would not have added any length of prison time to Kelly’s federal conviction. They said trying to case would have had an “overwhelming impact” on the victim and the community.
Neither prosecutor in Cook or Hennepin Counties apparently took into consideration that you could have a POTUS, who loves to release Black entertainers from prison sentences in an attempt to curry what he believes are favors to the Black American nation. Should the POTUS pardon Kelly, he would now be a free man and young girls across America would be in danger. Same could possibly be said for Combs, whose federal trial is ongoing, but the testimonies are gut-wrenching of the criminal enterprise he was allegedly running. The case involves sex crimes, drugging of victims and beatings to ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, all allegedly ran through Combs’ various business ventures.
Sean “Puffy” Combs is currently on trial in New York City for allegedly running a criminal enterprise, which has brought RICO charges against the mustic mogul. He is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Prosecutors could be in a legal quagmire in the Combs case. They could get a conviction and the POTUS, who again shows favoritism towards Black entertainers, could commute or pardon the conviction with the stroke of a pen. One should not think for a second that Combs or his legal team does not know this. If that happens, then none of Combs’ convictions would stick and he could possibly not face any more time in custody, as he is currently serving.
Hoover still has a sentence of 150-200 years for murder on state charges, that are not affected by his federal commutation. However, he is only one step away from freedom if current Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker or any future governor decide to commute his sentence or pardon him. Pritzker’s office had not released a statement on the possibility of a commutation as of this writing. It would be highly unlikely I would suspect.
However, Hoover’s supporters now have a renewed since of hope. They also had a lot of say upon hearing the news.
“I think it should have happened under Biden,” said former gang enforcer turned political activist Wallace “Gator” Bradley during an interview with WBEZ Chicago. “They should have done it under Barack Obama. I commend Trump for doing it.”
Hoover’s son, also praised the move on his social media account. Entertainer Kanye West had pleaded Hoover’s case during the first administration of the current President. West had not released a statement either after the news broke.
However, many in the Black community in Chicago are horrified by this news. Hoover was responsible for many lives being destroyed, when he reigned over one of the most powerful street gangs in Chicago. The violence associated with the drug trade during the 1980’s and 90’s set all sorts of crime records for the city in terms of murders, shootings and other forms of violent crimes. Even after he was convicted and in prison, Hoover continued to run the gang from behind bars until federal authorities stepped in and came down hard on him and another gang leader Jeff Fort. The two were both sent to the supermax prison in Colorado where they remain at this time.
While his supporters say Hoover is a reformed man and credit him for political organizing to go along with food and school-supply drives. I can only remember the drive-by shootings that plagued many Chicago Black neighborhoods during the height of the gang wars in the 90’s. I can remember the fear of walking down the wrong street and being accosted by gang members. I can remember being terrified by the thought that if I was accidentially driving with my lights off at night, that someone would shoot at my car thinking I was a rival gang member about to do a hit.
Chicago politicians cuddling up to gang leaders is nothing new. In exchange for supplying aspiring politicians with foot soldiers, you can easily assume that when gang leaders needed a favor in return, politicians had to pay back big time, or the consequences would have been unimaginable. As far as toy drives, turkey giveaways during the holidays and other acts of community kindness, it can be viewed as nothing more than the gangs wanting to keep the static down in the community for their illegal activities. Giving the poorest residents something that the government should have been doing, but wasn’t as a way to entice residents to look the other way and not call police. You see, gang leaders understand politics too.