Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 360 Months in Prison

FORT WAYNE–Henry E. Underwood, 30 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to attempted murder of a federal witness, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Underwood was sentenced to 360 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release.  Chief Judge Brady further ordered this sentence to run consecutive to the sentence in Underwood’s other federal case, 1:20-CR-33.  In that case, Underwood received a total sentence of 102 months of imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and for contempt of court. 

According to documents in the case, codefendant Tyshon Powell operated a drug stash house in Fort Wayne in 2018, and the FBI’s Fort Wayne Safe Streets Gang Task Force raided this house in March 2018, finding drug trafficking evidence and a firearm.  To distance himself from this residence, Powell had paid a person to rent the stash house. In order to keep the renter silent about their arrangement, Powell elicited the help of a fellow gang member as a middleman who in turn recruited Underwood to kill the renter.  Underwood agreed to kill the renter/witness to prevent their testimony.  On June 1, 2018, Underwood went to the witness’ house and shot at him/her at least three times, hitting their torso, arms, hands, and head.  Despite being severely injured, the witness survived. 

“This Defendant was the paid gunman for a drug dealer who desired to avoid prison by killing witnesses,” said United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.  “Both dealer and the gunman are rightfully now long-term residents in federal prison. This prosecution shows that my office will vigorously prosecute all persons who engage in illegal drug distribution and those who attempt to obstruct the workings of our criminal justice system, which relies upon the cooperation of witnesses, by violence and/or threat of violence of witnesses.” 

“Rather than face the consequences for his own illegal actions, this defendant tried to permanently silence a potential witness by taking the witness’ life,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Herbert J. Stapleton. “This sentence should serve as a warning to others who would contemplate such violent acts of intimidation that you will be brought to justice.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Fort Wayne Safe Streets Gang Task Force, which includes the FBI, the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Indiana State Police, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, with the assistance of the Fort Wayne Police Department’s Homicide Section and the Indiana State Police Laboratory Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony W. Geller and Stacey R. Speith.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.