`Gator' Bradley Polishes Image Of Gangbanger Gone Straight

February 18, 1994|By George Papajohn and John Kass, Tribune Staff Writers.


Wallace "Gator" Bradley's trip to Washington to discuss crime issues with President Clinton was a big moment for the reformed burglar and stickup man.

He arrived at the White House with Rev. Jesse Jackson and several other officials to brief the president before Clinton's first State of the Union Address. Later that day, his eyes tired and his manner almost giddy, Bradley called a news conference in Chicago and triumphantly told reporters, "It was righteous."

The Jan. 24 meeting with the world's most powerful leader, however, likely would not have happened without some help from Illinois' most powerful gang leader, Larry Hoover, a man whom Bradley had visited only eight days before in a state prison.