FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Erin Maloney, Communications Director
Office of the State Attorney, 13th Judicial Circuit
(813) 557-3366 | [email protected]
TALLAHASSEE, FL (March 26, 2025) — State Attorney Suzy Lopez appeared in front of the Florida Commission on Offender Review (FCOR) in Tallahassee today and successfully argued against the conditional medical release of defendant Jimm Underwood. Underwood pleaded guilty in 2003 to kidnapping his former boss at gunpoint in the garage of his Cheval home. Underwood appealed to FCOR asking to be released from his three consecutive life sentences due to a terminal medical illness.
State Attorney Lopez appeared in front of the Commission urging them to deny Underwood’s release. She argued that Underwood’s cold and calculated crime still impacts the victims today. Underwood methodically planned the crime in which he robbed his former boss and his wife at gunpoint before ransacking their Cheval home. The defendant held the couple captive for over five hours before putting his former boss in the trunk of his car and driving to a storage facility in Largo where the victim was chained up, hooded, and covered in plastic. Underwood committed the crime because he was dissatisfied with his employment situation before quitting his job.
Underwood also forced his former boss’ wife to go to the bank to withdraw $100,000 under the threat of her husband’s death. The victim was able to courageously escape from the storage facility to call for help. Underwood pleaded guilty to the crime in 2003 and was sentenced to three consecutive life terms.
“This defendant put an innocent couple through hell, and it is by the grace of God that they were not seriously injured or killed. Underwood wrote a chilling letter that discussed plans to kill his former boss and himself. To release him from prison would reignite the trauma he caused and leave the victims fearing for their lives again. I am grateful that the Commission agreed to deny the medical release so that the victims can continue to heal from this devastating ordeal,” said State Attorney Suzy Lopez.
United States Attorney General Pam Bondi originally prosecuted this case when she was an Assistant State Attorney in Hillsborough County. She called Underwood a monster and helped to secure justice for the victims.
State Attorney Lopez leads a team of talented prosecutors and professional staff who are responsible for all criminal prosecutions in the 13th Judicial Circuit. The State Attorney’s Office is committed to keeping the public informed about the outcomes of major court cases to ensure transparency and accountability. We believe it is of utmost importance for the public to understand how our justice system operates in order to build trust. To learn more about the outcome of cases prosecuted in our office, you can follow us on social media:
- Twitter: @HillsboroughSAO, @SuzyLopezSA
- Instagram: @HillsboroughStateAttorney
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