AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Chicago criminal legend Larry Hoover made his first appearance in court in more than 20 years today, albeit via video call. He told U.S. District Judge John Blakey that he is a changed man from the one who founded the street gang Gangster Disciples. His attorneys have argued that under the First Step Act, which former President Trump signed in 2018, Hoover should be resentenced. The judge asked Hoover's attorney to tell him, quote, "how many murders do you think he's responsible for?" Hoover's team has until October 7 to answer that question.
To learn more about Larry Hoover, we spoke with Jon Seidel, a federal court reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, from the courthouse earlier today. And I started by asking him how he would characterize the significance of Hoover's appearance in court today.
JON SEIDEL: It depends on your point of view. Some see him as the person who created a murderous street gang that continues to exist today and has spread across the country. Others see him as a folk hero. I mean, there are people who still today talk about the positive impact on their lives that he has had. And, you know, either way, he's just become almost a mythological figure who nobody ever sees or hears from.
CHANG: And explain how Hoover and his attorney are trying to use what's called the First Step Act to persuade the court to take another look at his sentence.
SEIDEL: Sure. So Hoover is serving a federal sentence that involved his continuing running of the Gangster Disciples from a state prison. He was serving a state murder sentence but continued to run the gang from the prison and then was convicted of an ongoing criminal enterprise but also drug crimes. The First Step Act made retroactive some drug sentencing reforms that had been enacted since Hoover was sentenced in 1998. And so what they're doing is they're going to a judge and explaining that the retroactivity of that law means that Hoover is eligible for a judge to just reexamine all of the factors that went into his sentence and possibly give him a new sentence.
CHANG: You mentioned that there are pretty divergent opinions about Hoover in Chicago, probably including people who don't want to see him released from prison, right?
SEIDEL: That's true. And in fact, there's an argument that's been made by federal prosecutors in Chicago of a concern that if he's free, Larry Hoover might just resume leadership of the Gangster Disciples. In fact, they say he continues to be the heralded leader, chairman, king. He once ruled the gang as King Larry, later took on the name chairman. When he was sentenced in 1998 by the judge, the judge told him that he had misused this great gift that he'd received from God, this ability that Larry Hoover had to command thousands.
CHANG: You also mentioned that there are some people out there who think of him as a bit of a folk hero - right? - that he's almost been a positive influence in the last couple decades. Explain that.
SEIDEL: Well, there was a point in all of this where Larry Hoover began to talk about encouraging people to put down the gun and pick up the ballot. He even created a political action committee called 21st Century VOTE. And we spoke to people recently who talk about being involved in the rebranding of the Gangster Disciples, the so-called GDs, as a growth and development organization. And people talk about being involved in that growth and development organization and even talk about learning the five Ps - proper preparation prevents poor performance and how they've applied that philosophy that they learned from Hoover and went on to live productive lives.
CHANG: Jon Seidel, reporter for The Chicago Sun-Times, thank you very much for joining us today.
SEIDEL: Glad to do it.
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