Today Rogers Underwood, 30, pled guilty to multiple counts in five cases from 2018. The charges include three counts of Unlicensed Contracting During a State of Emergency and two counts of Grand Theft. He was also charged with one count each of Use of Antishoplifting Countermeasure, Attempted Robbery and Driving While License Suspended.
Underwood took money from three people in Collier County after Hurricane Irma to supposedly do repairs on their homes. After receiving money he did not do any work and would no longer respond to the victims’ attempts to get their money back. He took more than $5200. This portion of his crime was part of the State Attorney’s Office Hurricane Response Team prosecution. The team was put into place to handle prosecutions involving citizens being taken advantage of following hurricanes.
In another crime, Underwood tried to rob a McDonald’s in Naples. He was acting suspiciously asking questions about how many employees were working and went both in the restaurant and then through the drive through. In the drive through, he demanded money from the cashier and attempted to hand her a note. At this time a deputy with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office happened to be near the restaurant and noticed Underwood’s license plate was covered. The cashier motioned to the deputy that there was a problem. Underwood warned the employee to act normal. The deputy confronted the defendant and placed him under arrest.
He was also prosecuted for grand theft for stealing from a Lowe’s in Naples. He filled a shopping cart with more than $900 worth of merchandise and used a security device deactivator so the security alarm would not go off when he left. A loss prevention officer was able to stop the items from being stolen just after he left the store. Underwood ran away and was later apprehended.
Underwood was sentenced to four years in prison on each charge. They are to be served
concurrently.
Assistant State Attorney Tino Cimato of our Economic Crimes Unit and Assistant State Attorney
Laura Mason handled the cases.
Samantha Syoen
Communications Director
State Attorney’s Office
ssyoen@sao20.org
239-533-1125