Appeals court rules on former Chester County sheriff’s request to overturn 2021 conviction
A former South Carolina sheriff whom prosecutors say was “a crook and a bully” while in office will remain in federal prison, court records show.
A federal appeals court last week upheld the 2021 convictions and 46-month sentence against former Chester County Sheriff George Alexander “Alex” Underwood, 60. Even though Underwood asked the court to shorten his sentence, that request hasn’t been approved.
A federal jury in April 2021 convicted Underwood, known in court documents and the public as “Big A,” of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, deprivation of rights, falsifying records and federal program theft. He was sentenced in 2022.
A three-judge panel for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the convictions against Underwood and former top deputies Robert Sprouse and Johnny Neal in a ruling released March 18. The panel stated an “elected county sheriff and two of his deputies were convicted and sentenced for abuses of power.”
Chester County is a rural county of around 32,000 people between Rock Hill and Columbia.
What the appeals court said
The appeals court said Underwood used deputies to build a “man-cave” in his barn and stole money intended to pay other deputies for DUI checkpoints.
“Exercising his broad power as Sheriff of a small county, he enriched himself by directing his deputies to do work, while on the public payroll, to improve his personal property, including converting and expanding a modest barn into a home entertainment center,” the appeals court ruling states.
Underwood and the others could ask the full 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia to hear the case, documents show.
Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice who convicted Underwood and opposed his release in court declined comment Tuesday on the appeals court ruling.
Efforts to reach Rauch Wise of Greenwood, the appellate lawyer for the three defendants, about the appeals court decision, were unsuccessful.
Underwood prison release: June 2025
Underwood is serving his 46-month sentence in a Kentucky federal prison. The federal Bureau of Prisons website shows Underwood is not scheduled for release until June 2025.
In January, Underwood asked through a court filing for a court-appointed lawyer and to be considered for early release because he had no prior criminal record before his convictions. As of this week, no action had been taken on that request, federal court records show.
Underwood will be on federal supervised release for three years after he gets out of prison, and has to pay almost $30,000 in restitution, records show.
Sprouse, whose sentence was about half of the other two, was released from federal prison in November and is on supervised release, the Bureau of Prisons website and court records show. Neal’s sentence runs through June 2025.
Underwood a trailblazer before conviction
A former State Law Enforcement Division agent, Underwood was Chester’s first Black sheriff when elected in 2012 and 2016.
Underwood’s early tenure was marked by success in the 2014 arrest of gang members connected to the killing of Chester City Councilman Odell Williams.
He gained national acclaim in 2015 for taking a child from Pennsylvania hunting in South Carolina after the child mistakenly though the trip was in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Underwood appeared on a national TV show and was the subject of media attention across the country. He was selected South Carolina sheriff of the year in 2015 by his sheriff peers across the state.
When Underwood ran for re-election in 2016, he sent this statement to The Herald about himself: “Known to many simply as ‘Big A,’ Underwood is a trusted and well respected law enforcement veteran and legend in his own time.”
But the FBI started investigating Underwood and the sheriff’s office after claims surfaced of the 2018 unlawful arrest. He was suspended by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster after the May 2019 federal indictments.
McMaster appointed Max Dorsey to replace Underwood as sheriff in 2019. Dorsey remains sheriff after he was elected in 2020.
Since 2010, at least 11 South Carolina sheriffs have been convicted of criminal charges while in office.
Reporter John Monk of The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. contributed.
