Former Chester County Sheriff Underwood, deputies guilty of conspiracy, jury rules

Former Chester County Sheriff Alex “Big A” Underwood and two former top deputies were found guilty by a federal jury late Friday afternoon of numerous corruption charges related to a wide-ranging conspiracy.

The former deputies, Deputy Chief Robert Sprouse, 46, and former Lt. Johnny Neal, 41, were also found guilty of various charges contained in a 17-count indictment issued last September. That indictment contained more charges than two previous indictments in his case.

Underwood, 57, the first African-American sheriff in Chester County, and the two former deputies sat motionless by their lawyers as the verdicts were read out in a hushed courtroom. Underwood had been elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. After being indicted in 2019, Underwood was suspended from office and lost a 2020 bid for re-election.

The three were also found not guilty of a few charges contained in the indictment. But the guilty verdicts far outweighed the not-guilty verdicts.

The verdict came late in the afternoon on the 10th day of a trial in which federal prosecutors put up some two dozen witnesses and the defense, just two. Underwood, Neal and Sprouse exercised their Fifth Amendment right not to testify.

Underwood was convicted of seven counts including conspiracy concerning wire fraud and federal program theft, and not guilty of three others. Sprouse was found guilty of four counts of conspiracy, falsification of records and federal program theft, and not guilty of two counts.

Neal was found guilty of conspiracy for wire fraud, federal program theft and falsification of records on 12 counts. Neal was found not guilty on one charge — the excessive force alleged in the original arrest that started the investigation against all three in 2018.

None of the three convicted men had any comment as they left the courthouse with family members.

Nor did the two federal prosecutors, Rebecca Schuman and William Miller, have any comment on what was a hard-fought grueling trial with numerous objections by each side.

After the verdicts were read, presiding U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs released all three men on personal recognizance bonds.

They will be sentenced in two or three months after a pre-sentence report is prepared on each man. None of the three had a criminal record before Friday. Each faces the potential of a long prison sentence of more than 10 years. However, since none have prior criminal background, they could receive lighter sentences.

Over the last 10 days, the prosecutors’ case shone a light on the lack of state financial or other oversight on the offices of sheriffs, who have wide latitude in spending money under their control and how they treat deputies.

Deputies serve at the pleasure of the sheriff. Sheriffs, who are state officials, are elected by their counties, whose local governments have little control over the sheriffs’ offices. are state officials and to a large extent

Prosecutors claimed Underwood skimmed federal DUI task force money and used deputy labor that is partially paid for by state and federal sources for his own benefit in building a “man-cave” inside Underwood’s party barn. Neal was alleged to have been part of the scheme in the DUI money and all three were alleged to have been in a conspiracy to provide deputy labor for non-police activities.

Prosecutors also focused on a claim that Underwood illegally arrested Chester County resident Kevin Simpson for videotaping a police scene while standing on his own property, then conspired with Sprouse and Neal to cover it up after the FBI started investigating.

Lawyers for Underwood, Neal and Sprouse said the allegations were not proven and the federal government was out to get all three after the arrest of Simpson was claimed to be botched and covered up.

In a closing argument to the jury Thursday, Underwood defense attorney Stanley Myers called jurors’ attention to the prosecutors’ out-of-state roots, stressing several times that they came from Washington, D.C. Prosecutors Schuman and Miller are members of a special U.S. Justice Department integrity team that prosecutes corruption.

Underwood was represented by Myers and Jake Moore; Sprouse was represented by Michael Laubshire; and Neal by Andrew Johnston.

In the last 11 years, several South Carolina sheriffs have been charged with crimes or convicted:

▪ In 2010, former Union County Sheriff Howard Wells was sentenced to 90 days in prison for financial offenses, including lying to federal agents.

▪ In 2011, a jury found former Lee County Sheriff E. J. Melvin guilty of racketeering, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, extortion, theft from a government agency, illegal financial transactions and making false statements to a government agent. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

▪ In 2012, former Saluda County Sheriff Jason Booth left office after pleading guilty to charges of misusing inmates at his county jail. He received probation.

▪ In 2013, former Abbeville County Sheriff Charles Goodwin stepped down after pleading guilty to misconduct in office for receiving kickbacks. He was put on probation and sentenced to 100 hours of community service.

▪ In 2014, former Chesterfield County Sheriff Sam Parker was convicted by a jury on charges he gave inmates at his jail access to women, weapons, alcohol and the internet. He received two years in prison.

▪ In 2015, longtime Lexington County Sheriff Jimmy Metts was sentenced to a year in federal prison for his role in a scheme to help undocumented immigrants get out of his jail.

▪ Also in 2015, former Williamsburg County Sheriff Michael Johnson was sentenced to 30 months in prison in an identity theft scheme he facilitated by helping an accomplice create false paperwork on official sheriff’s office documents.

▪ In 2019, former Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis was sentenced to a year in prison after a jury convicted him for using the power of his office to coerce a female employee into an extramarital affair. Lewis served several weeks in prison but has been released on bond. Remaining charges against him were dismissed in February, according to the Greenville News and other media reports.

▪ In January 2020, former Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone pleaded guilty to embezzlement in connection with charges of stealing funds from his office to spend on personal matters. Boone was sentenced to five years in prison but that sentence was suspended to probation. However, in March, after Boone was charged with domestic violence, and he was sent to prison for four and a half months for violating probation. In December, Boone pleaded guilty to domestic violence and again received probation, this time on condition he undergo 26 weeks of domestic abuse counseling.

▪ Also in 2020, former Colleton County Sheriff Andy Strickland was sentenced to probation after being found guilty of various charges including getting deputies to work on his property and beating his girlfriend.

▪ In 2020, former Union County Union County Sheriff David Taylor was indicted for misconduct and sending a sexually obscene photo from his county cell phone. His case is pending.

This story will be updated.