A retired Dallas police officer is using his old investigative skills in a desperate effort to keep his daughter from spending more than a decade in a foreign prison.
Paul Inman, who spent 28 years with the Dallas Police Department working as a gang‑unit detective, now lives in Argyle. Three years into retirement, he has found himself investigating a case thousands of miles away in Panama, where his daughter is facing a minimum 12‑year sentence.
The 56‑year‑old says he is racing to keep his daughter, Sabrina Underwood, from spending years behind bars.
A holiday trip turns into a criminal case
Underwood, a 34‑year‑old mother of three from San Antonio, traveled to Panama over the holidays to visit a family friend. Authorities at the airport found a loaded gun in her checked luggage, and she is now facing a smuggling charge that carries a mandatory 12‑year sentence if convicted.
“I thought that life was over, now I’m doing everything I can to defend this situation for my daughter,” Inman said.
Inman says the gun belonged to Underwood’s husband, a military service member and gun enthusiast.
“The handgun belonged to her husband, he is an avid gun person, and he’s in the military, and she was completely shocked,” he said.
Trying to prove it was an accident
Inman has been trying to convince Panamanian prosecutors that his daughter had no idea the gun was in her bag.
“The gun was on the outside bag, not in her clothing, not concealed, not in the zipper of the outside bag. Those are the things we have to show to them that say, ‘Hey, look, if she’s smuggling, wouldn’t she have concealed something in the bag, not on the outside?’” Inman said.
Underwood spent 23 days in a Panama prison before being moved to house arrest. Prosecutors have offered a plea deal that would still require her to serve 12 years.
“If she does 12 years, that would be devastating for the family, devastating. I don’t think emotionally she can make it,” Inman said.
Her three children, ages 14, 11, and 8, would be adults by the time she is released.
A one‑man mission for help
Inman says he has struggled to get help from the federal government, leaving him largely on his own as he tries to gather evidence and advocate for leniency.
“She makes a friend wherever she goes. If she goes to a party, everyone’s gonna know cause she’s loud, she’s fun, she’s a fun person,” he said. “It’s just a sad mistake, but it could cost her dearly, and that’s what I’m fearful of.”
Questions about U.S. airport security
The case also raises questions about how the loaded gun passed through security screenings at airports in Nashville and Houston before being discovered in Panama.
