Pubdate: Sat, 26 Jun 1999 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Copyright: 1999 Houston Chronicle Contact: http://www.chron.com/ Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html Author: Steve Brewer EX-DEPUTY GETS FOUR-YEAR TERM FOR DRUGS Wife Pleads Guilty, Receives Probation A former Harris County sheriff's deputy who admitted to using and buying drugs while on duty was sentenced Friday to four years in prison. State District Judge Jim Wallace told Lawrence Rhea Underwood, 29, who pleaded guilty to two charges of possession of a controlled substance in March, that he had soiled his badge. Underwood's wife, Lisa Jannell Underwood, 31, pleaded guilty to one charge of possession. Each had been charged with possessing more than one and less than four grams of methamphetamines on Oct. 29. Lawrence Underwood was also charged with cocaine possession after failing a urine test conducted by the sheriff's department. He could have been sentenced to as much as 10 years for each charge, and Wallace could have ordered each term to be served consecutively. Wallace sentenced Lawrence Underwood to a four-year term for each of his two charges, and those terms will run concurrently. It was unclear Friday how the parole law would apply to Underwood. He could conceivably be eligible for parole after serving one year of his sentence, prosecutor Roberto Gutierrez said. But he might also have to serve as much as two years before being parole-eligible because of how parole officials have been handling such cases. Wallace placed Lisa Underwood on six years of probation, fined her $1,000, ordered her to do 300 hours community service and submit to random drug testing. Underwood's wife was arrested during a drug sting in the 4800 block of East Mount Houston on Oct. 29. After her arrest, sheriff's deputies obtained a search warrant to test her husband's urine. Underwood, who went to work as a deputy in 1991, was arrested at the couple's home in northeast Harris County and fired shortly thereafter for violating the department's drug policy. Gutierrez said there was evidence that Lawrence Underwood had been abusing drugs for five years. During Friday's hearing, Underwood admitted under oath that he once used drugs while on duty and once bought drugs while he was in a patrol car. Defense attorney Burt Springer asked Wallace for probation for the two, saying they were good people who "hit a bump in the road" and made a mistake. Gutierrez countered that the couple did more than hit a bump. He said they took a wrong turn that made Lawrence Underwood a traitor in the "war on drugs." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea