Son of ex-Chester sheriff sentenced to 10 years for SC prison drug deals
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A son of former Chester County Sheriff Alex Underwood has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after continuing drug deals while incarcerated in South Carolina for trafficking cocaine.
Jacquese Traveon Underwood, 40, of Rock Hill, used a cell phone to send messages to others outside prison about dealing drugs while serving a 12-year sentence from a 2014 conviction for a kilo of cocaine sent in the mail from California to York County, according to federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and court records.
U.S. District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced him to 10 years Thursday in federal court in Columbia despite Underwood’s lawyer arguing Underwood should get some credit for time he was already serving on the original 2014 conviction, records show. Lewis also ordered four years of supervised release after Underwood finishes his federal sentence.
Underwood was originally indicted in 2023 for the prison crimes, records show. He pleaded guilty to the federal charge of conspiracy to distribute meth and fentanyl in July 2024 while still in custody, federal documents show.
Underwood finished his state prison sentence on April 1 of this year and was free for nine days before he turned himself in, according to court documents.
Underwood also has another previous drug conviction from 2006, according to prosecutors and court records.
Former sheriff convicted of unrelated charges
Underwood’s father, George Alexander “Alex” Underwood, was the sheriff of Chester County from 2013 to 2019 when Gov. Henry McMaster suspended him after he was indicted by federal officials.
Former Sheriff Underwood’s federal convictions and the conviction of his son are unrelated.
Alex Underwood, known as “Big A,” was convicted in a 2021 trial of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, deprivation of rights, falsifying records and federal program theft. The former sheriff was convicted of using deputies to work on a man cave at his personal property, and taking money that was supposed to be used for DUI checkpoints.
He was sentenced to four years in federal prison.
In May 2024, Underwood pleaded guilty to South Carolina state charges stemming from the same set of crimes. The state sentence for conspiracy, misconduct in office, and use of office for financial gain ran concurrent to his federal stint in prison.
He was in prison until January of this year and remains on federal supervised release.
This story was originally published August 4, 2025 at 8:36 AM.
