It is said to be widely believed by law enforcement experts that prison officials want to keep gang leaders happy so that they will, in turn, use their powers to prevent full-blown serious incidents such as a riot or a major fire. The Illinois Department of Corrections dispute this version of how prisons are run. But there are too many stories to say that gang leaders are not receiving special treatment. DOC officials say that deals have not been made with gang leaders. They say that gang leaders just happen to be most often well-behaved inmates and that entitles them to better treatment and more freedom.
Gang leaders do, seemingly, accumulate the best comforts and privledges that prisons have to offer.
Gangster Disciples leader Larry Hoover lived for many years, despite being convicted of murder, at the Vienna minimum security prison. He, too, was considered to be a model prisoner. Hoover was just convicted of federal charges and will be moved to a federal prison soon, where he will find prison life to be just a tad more unpleasant. Heltsley believes that Hoover was responsible for a 1978 Pontiac Prison uprising that left three prison guards dead. They have always played, 'Let's Make a Deal' with him.