Convicted ex-Chester SC sheriff Alex Underwood appeals prison sentence for corruption
Former Chester County Sheriff Alex Underwood has appealed a prison sentence of almost four years handed down by a judge earlier this month for a corruption conviction, court documents show.
Underwood’s lawyers filed documents Tuesday in federal court appealing the 46-month prison sentence and restitution of almost $30,000 that South Carolina U.S. District Court judge Michelle Childs handed down July 11.
Childs said in court during sentencing July 11 Underwood used his position as the top law enforcement officer in Chester County for personal gain. Underwood also took away the public’s trust in police, Childs said in court.
Underwood was sheriff from 2013 until he was indicted in 2019. He was a State Law Enforcement Division agent before that.
At least 12 South Carolina sheriffs have been convicted or charged with crimes in the past dozen years. The 46-month sentence Childs gave Underwood is one of the longest prison sentences handed out in at least the last decade to lawbreaking former South Carolina law enforcement officials, according to court records and a records review by The State and The Herald.
Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice who convicted Underwood called him “a crook and a bully” at sentencing July 11. Prosecutors who asked for 46 months in prison for Underwood have not responded in court documents to his appeal of the sentence.
Underwood’s lawyers asked for a far shorter sentence in court on July 11. His lawyers said other South Carolina sheriffs received sentences of a year or less after convictions. Underwood, the first Black sheriff in Chester County, was subjected to racism while sheriff after his election, his lawyers said.
Childs said in court July 11 Underwood was convicted of more crimes than those other sheriffs who received lesser sentences.
The appeal is not expected to change Underwood reporting to prison. Underwood has to report to federal prison by Sept. 15. The location has not yet been selected by the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Childs, the federal judge who handled the trial and sentencing, was confirmed Tuesday for the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. She was was considered for the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year.
Alex Underwood’s appeal
Federal sentencing guidelines, which are not mandatory, showed a recommendation of 46 to 57 months prison for Underwood’s convictions after the 2021 trial. Underwood’s sentence was at the low end of that range.
Most people convicted in federal criminal court appeal their sentence, but rarely does the sentence change.
Underwood already asked Judge Childs to throw out the conviction itself, court records show. In December 2021, Judge Childs denied Underwood’s request that she overturn the jury verdict.
Underwood did not testify at trial and pleaded not guilty. Underwood said July 11 at sentencing that he never took anything and did not violate anyone’s civil rights, despite prosecutors evidence presented at trial.
Former sheriff’s conviction
Underwood was convicted in April 2021 after a 10-day trial on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program theft, falsifying records, an attempted cover up and unlawful arrest of a Chester County man in 2018.
Underwood was convicted of falsely arresting the man after the former sheriff confronted the man doing a Facebook Live video. The arrest was covered up with false reports and lies to the FBI, according to court testimony and documents. Underwood also was convicted of using deputies for manual labor at a barn at his home for a “man cave,” and taking federal DUI checkpoint pay for time he did not work.
Chester County is a rural county of around 32,000 people between Rock Hill and Columbia.
Two former top deputies were also convicted in the 2021 trial and sentenced to prison terms on July 11. Neither former chief deputy Robert Sprouse who was sentenced to 24 months prison, nor former Lt. Johnny Neal who was sentenced to 46 months prison, have appealed.
This story was originally published July 20, 2022 at 10:36 AM with the headline "Convicted ex-Chester SC sheriff Alex Underwood appeals prison sentence for corruption."
