Department of Justice

FORT WAYNE – Henry Underwood, 29 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Holly A. Brady after being found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Underwood was sentenced to 102 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.

According to documents in this case, in September 2022, Underwood was found guilty of the gun crime following a three-day jury trial. This conviction stems from a vandalism-by-gunfire complaint to which the Fort Wayne Police responded in December 2019. Shortly after the shooting, police stopped a vehicle and located Underwood inside. In this vehicle, police found a 9mm pistol loaded with live ammunition and an extended magazine. In a social media video posted earlier in the day, Underwood was seen handling a loaded, extended firearm magazine similar to the one recovered from the vehicle, and Underwood was wearing the same clothes from the traffic stop. Underwood has multiple prior felony convictions which prohibit him from possessing the firearm or ammunition.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the assistance of the Fort Wayne Police Department and the Indiana State Police laboratory. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Stacey R. Speith and Anthony W. Geller.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.