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LARRY HOOVER & THE GANGSTER DISCIPLES In 1997, several indictments marked the beginning of what law enforcement officials predict will be a long battle to completely dismantle the notorious Chicago-based prison gang, the Gangster Disciples. For the past 25 years, the reputed leader of the organization, Larry Hoover, had run the 30,000-member, militaristic gang and its drug trade from Joliet State Prison in Illinois. Hoover and six associates were found guilty of these charges, and Hoover was transferred to a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Hoover's incarceration in the federal prison is expected to seriously disable the Gangster Disciples gang. |
Hoover
was serving a 200-year sentence for a 1973 gang-related murder. The gang
had been selling about 2 kilograms of cocaine per week for the past five
years. Finally, the five-year undercover investigation by the federal
government led to drug conspiracy, extortion, and other criminal charges
against Mississippi-born Larry Hoover and other high-ranking members of
the street gang.