Convicted Ex-SC Sheriff Underwood moved from prison to NC halfway house before release
Convicted former Chester County Sheriff George Alexander “Big A” Underwood has been moved from a Kentucky prison to North Carolina halfway house in preparation for release after almost four years in prison.
The federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed in an email to The Herald Underwood is set to be freed from custody on Jan. 23.
Underwood, 61, is finishing a 46-month prison term for corruption while the top law enforcement officer in Chester. A federal jury in Columbia convicted him in 2021 on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, deprivation of rights, falsifying records and federal program theft after prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office called him “a crook and a bully.”
He spent most of that time at Big Sandy prison in Kentucky. Federal officials said they transferred Underwood to the pre-release center in Butner N.C. near Raleigh on Dec. 5. Underwood is receiving transition counseling and other services.
Underwood still has three years of supervised release, or probation, after he gets out, according to sentencing in his federal case.
Big A: Trailblazer, rise then fall
A former State Law Enforcement Division agent who survived being shot on duty, Underwood became Chester’s first Black sheriff after winning the 2012 election.
Chester is a mainly rural county of around 32,000 people between Rock Hill and Columbia.
His deputies made high-profile arrests in Chester following the gang-related shooting death of Chester city councilman Odell Williams in late 2014.
He received national acclaim and recognition in late 2014 and 2015 for bringing a Pennsylvania boy to Chester to hunt and stay with him after a mix-up over a youth program.
He easily won re-election in 2016.
But the FBI and federal and state prosecutors said Underwood’s second term was ripe with misuse of power and money, including taking a luxury trip to Nevada on the taxpayer’s dime and using his deputies to build a man cave in a barn on his personal property near I-77 in Chester.
In 2018, a Chester County man accused Underwood and two deputies of violating his civil rights during an illegal arrest. A federal grand jury indicted Underwood and two top deputies after the FBI raided the sheriff’s office in Chester.
Underwood appealed the verdicts and sentencing from U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs and asked for his sentence to be shortened. Those efforts failed. He has already paid back almost $30,000 in restitution from the federal financial crimes and paid back Chester County for the trip to Nevada, according to prosecutors and court records.
Underwood pleaded guilty to in South Carolina state court to corruption charges in May from the same set of facts involving money and using deputies for personal use in his federal crimes. The state sentence for conspiracy, misconduct in office, and use of office for financial gain ran concurrent to his federal stint in prison.
What happens next?
Underwood must report to a federal probation agent within 72 hours of his release later this month, sentencing records show.
It is unclear where he will live. Federal prison officials told The Herald they do not release inmate residential information. A Chester native, Underwood lived in rural Chester County before he was sent to prison.
Federal sentencing rules also show Underwood can’t possess a gun. That includes ammunition, an electric stun gun, or “anything that was designed, or was modified for, the specific purpose of causing bodily injury or death to another person,” sentencing documents show.
Federal probation rules also require he work at least 30 hours a week after release and can’t change where he lives without approval from the probation officer. He also can’t travel out of state without probation approval.
This story was originally published January 3, 2025 at 10:11 AM.
