February 1, 2021 – Gangster Disciples boss Larry Hoover was alleged to have led the 1978 Pontiac Prison Riot in Illinois that left three correctional officers dead and dozens hospitalized and further cementing his reputation as one of the most powerful crime lords in America. It’s a reputation the 70-year old Hoover carries to this very day in the U.S. Supermax facility in Florence, Colorado.
Ever since he was thrown behind bars in 1973 for a gangland murder on the Southside of Chicago of a rival he believed robbed him, Hoover has called shots for the Gangster Disciples from his prison cell. The Gangster Disciples have close to 30,000 members spread across 18 states.
Hoover was the No. 1 defendant in what was dubbed the “Pontiac 17 Case,” due to it being a total of 17 inmates that wound up being charged with three counts of first-degree capital murder in the fallout from the riot. The state wanted the death penalty. They all beat the rap.
At around 9:45 in the morning on July 22, 1978, a group of inmates at the front of a heard of 600 being brought from the yard into the cellhouse, overran the guards and took control of the prison property’s north-end buildings. Prison guards William Thomas, 49, Robert Conkle, 22, and Stanley Cole, 47 were killed in the uprising.
The prisoners were at odds with Warden Thaddeus Pinkney over living conditions. The night before had seen a gang-related stabbing death stemming from a drug ripoff. Combine that with the unrelenting heat of a scorching July, and tensions reached a boiling point.
By the end of the day, the state police had restored order and quelled the unrest. The riot lasted five hours. A combined 75 guards and inmates were sent to the hospital as a result of the violence.
State prosecutors put the blame on 17 high-ranking street gang bosses being housed at the Pontiac facility. The gang diversity in the indictment was the most impressive aspect of the case from a socio-academic point of view.
The Pontiac 17
1 Larry “The Chief” Hoover (Gangster Disciples)
2 Benneth “Little Benny” Lee (Vice Lords)
3 John “Big Bay” Bailey (Black Gangster Disciples)
4 Isaac “King Ike” Taylor (Black Gangster Disciple)
5 Mike “Bosco” Evans (Black Soul Gang)
6 Anthony “Tony Hop” Gilberry (Vice Lords)
7 Robert “Wheaty” Harris (Black Gangster)
8 Jesse Hill (Gangster Disicple)
9 Albert “Omega” Jackson (Black P Stone Ranger)
10 Earnest “Smokey” Jackson (EL RUKN)
11 Steven “Tuffy” Mars (Vice Lords)
12 David “Dinky” McConnell (Vice Lords)
13 Ronnie Newby (Black Gangsters)
14 William “Gaylord” Ozzie (Mickey Cobras, Vice Lords)
15 Kevin “Wolf” Tolbert (Black Soul Gang)
16 Angelo Robinson (Black Soul Gang)
17 Joe Smith (Black Soul Gang)
Angelo Robinson turned state’s evidence and the first 10 of the Pontiac 17 were put on trial in the spring of 1981. Little Benny Lee, Tuffy Mars, Dinky McConnell, Smokey and Omega Jackson, Bosco Evans, Jesse Hill, Joe Smith, Wolf Tolbert and Ronnie Newby were all found not guilty after a laborious 11-month trial. Later that summer, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office announced it was dropping the charges against remaining co-defendants Larry Hoover, Wheaty Harris, Big Bay Bailey, King Ike Taylor, Tony Hop Gilberry and Gaylord Ozzie and wouldn’t be proceeding to a second trial.
The post Larry Hoover & The Pontiac 17: Gangster Disciples Godfather Reputed To Have Organized Deadly ’78 Prison Riot appeared first on The Gangster Report.