Overview
- Hoover’s attorneys filed a petition asking the Illinois Prisoner Review Board to consider commuting his state murder sentence and to forward a recommendation to Governor JB Pritzker.
- President Donald Trump commuted Hoover’s federal life sentence in May, but Hoover remains incarcerated on a separate Illinois sentence of up to 200 years tied to a 1973 murder.
- The filing cites Hoover’s age of 74, reports of three heart attacks, and what his lawyers describe as extreme confinement and strenuous labor at Colorado State Penitentiary.
- The petition includes support from public figures such as Greg Mathis, Chance the Rapper, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, former Rep. Bobby Rush, Rep. Jonathan Jackson, State Sen. Willie Preston, Ald. Stephanie Coleman, and Arne Duncan.
- Federal prosecutors have long opposed leniency, the review board has repeatedly denied Hoover parole, and Pritzker’s office has deferred to the board’s process after meeting with Hoover’s family in May.