Same prison as Unabomber: Ex-Chester sheriff Alex Underwood could serve prison time in NC
Alex “Big A” Underwood spent more than 30 years in law enforcement catching some of America’s most violent fugitives and sending gang members to prison.
But now that Underwood has been convicted himself of corruption while he was the sheriff of Chester County in South Carolina, he could be sent to a North Carolina federal prison for his own safety while incarcerated.
U.S. District Court Judge Michelle Childs recommended in an order Wednesday that Underwood serve his 46-month prison sentence at Butner prison north of Raleigh.
The final decision on where Underwood will be housed will be made by the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Underwood has to report to prison by Sept. 15.
The Butner prison is the same one where Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, is housed.
The order may be one of Childs’ last actions as a South Carolina federal judge. Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate confirmed Childs for a seat on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, one of the nation’s most prestigious federal courts.
Safety a concern
Underwood’s lawyers, Stanley Myers, Jake Moore and Gil Bell, asked that Underwood not serve his prison sentence in South Carolina for safety reasons, court testimony and documents show.
It is not uncommon for law enforcement officials convicted of crimes to be sent to prisons in states away from where they formerly worked and were part of a system that sent convicted criminals to prisons.
Dan Johnson, formerly the top prosecutor for Richland and Kershaw counties in the Columbia area, served his one-year prison sentence at Butner after he pleaded guilty to stealing federal money while in office.
Underwood confronted gangs, felons while in law enforcement
Underwood had public confrontations with gangs and violent felons during his time as sheriff, and before that during his 20-plus year career with the State Law Enforcement Division.
Underwood was a member of a federal fugitive task force with the U.S. Marshals that included catching violent offenders.
On one occasion, he was shot but survived while taking a violent offender into custody in 2004. Underwood was also a dog handler for SLED and was involved in the investigation and arrest of wanted fugitives in South Carolina and other states.
As sheriff, Underwood arrested several Bloods gangs members in connection with the murder of Chester City Council member Odell Williams in 2014.
Underwood said publicly in 2014 he “declared (a) war on gangs.”
Gang members issued death threats to him during the investigation, Underwood said in court July 11.
At least two of those gang members are still in South Carolina prisons, court records show.
After publicly telling gangs that he was coming after them in 2014 after death threats, Underwood wore a bullet-proof vest while at public events in Chester County, he and his lawyers said in court.
Underwood was elected in 2012 as Chester’s first-ever Black sheriff. He received other threats, and his dog was poisoned after his election to the top law enforcement job, court records show.
Underwood’s conviction
Underwood, 59, was sentenced July 11 after he was convicted at trial in 2021. He has appealed the sentence but that appeal has so far had no effect on his reporting date, court documents show.
Underwood was convicted of deprivation of civil rights, wire fraud and conspiracy. A jury convicted him of his role in the false arrest of a man in 2018 and a cover-up afterward, taking money from deputy labor on his personal property, and taking phony payments for hours not worked at a DUI task force.
Underwood served from 2013 through 2019 when he was suspended from office after he was indicted.
Butner prison: Unabomber and Madoff
The Butner prison Underwood could be assigned to is a medium-security institution off Interstate 85 north of Durham and Raleigh.
The FMC Butner handbook says it provides a safe, secure and humane environment for offenders. It houses around 1,400 inmates.
Butner currently houses Ted Kaczinski, known as the Unabomber. Kaczynski is at Butner serving multiple life sentences for bombings over two decades from the 1970s until he was caught in the 1990s.
The prison has also housed other famous convicts, including investment scheme tycoon Bernie Madoff, who died in prison in 2021.
