Yesterday, a former sheriff of South Carolina and two of his deputies were convicted for a variety of offences, including conspiracy to break the law, depriving someone of their civil rights during an illegal arrest, obstructing the court system, and misusing public resources and people.
Following a 10-day jury trial, the former Chester County Sheriff George Alexander Underwood, 59, of Chester, the Chief Deputy Robert Andrew Sprouse, 47, of Ridgeway, and the former Chester County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Johnny Ricardo Neal Jr., 42, of Lancaster, were found guilty of conspiring to break the law and steal from a federal programme. Underwood and Neal were also found guilty of wire fraud and rights infringement. Sprouse and Neal were also found guilty of making false statements, and Sprouse was also found guilty of fabricating documents.
Sprouse received a 24-month jail term, while Underwood and Neal received 46-month sentences.
Underwood, Sprouse, and Neal plotted to cover up their misbehaviour, hinder inquiries into their misconduct, and enrich themselves via their positions by acquiring money to which they were not entitled, according to court records and evidence produced at trial. Evidence established that Underwood and Neal unlawfully detained and arrested Chester County resident K.S. on November 20, 2018, as he was photographing the Sheriff’s Office’s response to a collision scene and detained him without a warrant. Sprouse and Neal wrote up incident reports and statements to the FBI to cover up their misbehaviour when the FBI started looking into these civil rights abuses.
Additionally, according to court records and evidence presented at trial, the three defendants ordered Sheriff’s Office workers who were on the job to perform manual labour or other services that personally benefited Underwood and Sprouse. For example, they ordered them to assist with extensive renovations of a barn on Underwood’s property in order to add a bar, a television viewing area, and other amenities.
Separately, Underwood and Sprouse travelled to a conference in Reno, Nevada, with family members and billed the Sheriff’s Office for the expenses. In a separate plan, Underwood and Neal stole cash from payments due to other Sheriff’s Office personnel for work performed off-duty at public safety checkpoints.
After being first charged by a federal grand jury, Underwood, Sprouse, and Neal were fired from their jobs with the Chester County Sheriff’s Office in about May 2019.
The statement was made by the FBI’s Columbia Field Office’s Special Agent in Charge Susan Ferensic and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
The case was investigated into by the FBI.
The case was prosecuted by trial attorneys Rebecca M. Schuman and William M. Miller of the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division.