CHICAGO — Founder of the Gangster Disciples, Larry Hoover, was in court Thursday, testifying via video feed from a supermax prison in Colorado hoping to qualify for an early release program that would set him free from multiple life sentences.
Wearing a tan, long-sleeved shirt, glasses and a gray beard, Hoover appeared over monitors at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago.
“I’m a completely different person than the man who went to prison in 1997,” Hoover said. “I’m very reflective here at ADX. You’re locked up at least 21 hours a day.
“I have no desire to run the GD’s or be involved in any criminal activity. I’m past that part of my life.”
Hoover and his defense team were hoping to convince the Illinois Court to grant him early release through a special program recently passed by the United States Congress known as the “First Step Act,” which opens the door to early release for certain rehabilitated prisoners.
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But the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois staunchly opposed the early release of Hoover Thursday, arguing that he still asserts leadership when it comes to the Gangster Disciples, or the GD’s for short.