What did Kanye West have to do with Larry Hoover's commuted prison sentence as son thanks rapper?

The son of Larry Hoover has thanked Kanye West after his father’s prison sentence was commuted by Donald Trump, but what does the rapper have to do with it?

News emerged on Wednesday (28 May) that Larry Hoover Sr, who co-founded the Chicago street gang the Gangster Disciples, was to have his prison sentence commuted by US president Trump.

Following the announcement, Hoover’s son Hoover Jr thanked West, also known as Ye, crediting the rapper and his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, for putting him in touch with Alice Marie Johnson who he referred to as the “pardon czar”.

“[West] had a very big part because he started it all off,” Hoover Jr explained to TMZ. “He put us on the platform. He took us to the White House on his platform when he didn’t have to do that.”

He continued: “[West] stuck his neck out there. We know he don’t have a problem with sticking his neck out there about what he believes in, and I’m glad he believed in this.”

Chicago native West has been supporting the release of Hoover Sr for many years. In 2018, he discussed the case with Trump during his first tenure in office. He later featured a song with a message from Hoover Jr on his 2021 album Donda, and also held a benefit concert in collaboration with Canadian rapper Drake.

74-year-old Hoover has been behind bars since he was arrested in 1973. He is serving a term of life imprisonment for murder, as well as other federal charges.

Trump commuted Hoover’s federal drugs and extortion sentence, but he will still serve the 200-year state sentence in Illinois for the 1973 murder of the 19-year-old William Young, which the president does not have the power to commute. This means he will not be freed from prison.

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