Empire State Today

William Underwood remains in prison after more than 30 years, with clemency from President Trump his only hope for freedom.

Underwood thought he had turned his life around from selling drugs as a teenage father to support his family and was promoting and managing some of the top R&B and pop stars of the 1980s and 1990s.

But his past caught up to him when he was arrested in 1988 on drug conspiracy charges. Drug convictions under the 1987 federal sentencing guidelines and the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act left him with convictions on four counts. Although three of the counts carried 20-year concurrent sentences, he remains in prison on the fourth count, a continuing criminal enterprise charge with a mandatory life without parole sentence.

Underwood, 68, has been imprisoned 10 years long than the concurrent sentences required.

The timing of his case meant that had he been sentenced a few years earlier or later, sentencing guidelines would not have required a life sentence without parole. It is likely that he’d be out of prison.

Underwood, a grandfather of three and father of four adult children, needs clemency from Trump to rejoin society.

“You can’t get past over 30 years of literally being a model inmate, no violence, no disciplinary acts,” said Alice Marie Johnson, an advocate for inmates like Underwood. “Instead of leading people wrong, he’s leading them right.”

Johnson was introduced to Underwood through her daughter, who had met Underwood’s daughter when both were at a clemency event that included a justice roundtable and a visit to the White House.

“When I came out, I continued to fight for William Underwood," she said. "We had so many hopes that he would be set free also under the clemency project in 2014. As someone who is serving a life sentence with no hope of getting out, he could have reverted.” 

She said when people enter prison, and the doors slam behind them, many prisoners lose it. Underwood didn’t

“He’s made a big difference in society by sending men out who were under his mentorship, changed men,” Johnson said.

Underwood helps other men in prison by showing them their value. He takes them through the cycles that can lead them to success, she said. He helps them break old mindsets by not only describing a better way but by showing them the way.

Before his conviction and incarceration, Underwood promoted artists including Michael Jackson, Ray Charles and Johnny Gill.

Supporters of clemency for Underwood include MC Hammer, R&B singers, Johnny Gill & Keith Sweat, actress/model Maria McDonald, friends in music, film, sports and political figures. Organizations offering him support include the ACLU, CAN-DO Foundation, Justice Round Table, and Families for Justice as Healing.

Judge Theodore A. McKee of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals wrote a letter in June 2019 praising his mentorship of one of his former fellow inmates.