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McFarlane, Andrew M
On GDC's 2025 payroll
Profile written September 23, 2026
This profile reflects positional accountability — this individual held the leadership roles shown during the dates shown, during which the listed deaths or lawsuits occurred. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding of personal culpability for any specific incident.
Tenure Summary
Andrew M. McFarlane's Georgia Department of Corrections record runs from a 2015 correction-administration post, to unit manager at Rogers State Prison (2016) and deputy warden there (2017–2018), to deputy warden at Smith State Prison (2019–2022), a deputy warden posting with no facility listed (January–June 2023), and Warden at Telfair State Prison from July 1, 2023 — listed in later years as "Warden 3." GPS records attribute 53 deaths to his facility-leadership tenures: 36 at Telfair State Prison and 17 at Smith State Prison.
He is named as a defendant in Hall v. McFarlane, filed in the Southern District of Georgia on Nov. 29, 2023 and terminated March 4, 2024. The largest recorded payout tied to his watch is the $3,249,873 state liability settlement for the family/estate of Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, whose July 20, 2023 death at Telfair is documented in the DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger.
What happened on their watch
Rogers State Prison — Unit Manager (2016); Deputy Warden (2017–2018). GPS records attribute no deaths at Rogers to this period. One state liability payout is recorded against the facility for a 2017 incident — $75 to Carl Garrett, per the DOAS settlement ledger — dated while McFarlane is listed as deputy warden.
Smith State Prison — Deputy Warden (2019–2022). GPS records attribute 17 deaths at Smith to this tenure. Sampled decedents range in age from 24 to 67 and include Taylor Harrison Brooks (26, multiple stab wounds, April 2020), John Bretleir Reyes Cardona (24, stab wound to the neck, April 2020), Justin Nathaniel Wilkerson (25, asphyxia by neck compression, January 2021 — his mother testified before a Georgia legislative hearing about his mental-health diagnoses and prior attacks), Desmond Hill (35, strangulation, April 2021; a family member said he told his mother his cellmate had threatened to kill him), Hiwatha Abdulcah Hakeem Jr. (26, multiple stab wounds, April 2021; an incident report shows four other prisoners involved, and a lawsuit alleges the attackers had a history of violence and that officials failed to provide timely medical care), Nathan Michael Mahan (37, stab wounds, October 2022) and Jerome Tisdol (67, May 2022). DOAS ledger settlements tied to Smith include $1,450,000 for Christopher Heath (2020) and $3,472 for Micki Antonio Brown (2022). Events documented at Smith in those years include a 2020 case in which a prisoner was tied up, beaten, waterboarded and sexually assaulted by his cellmate; the 2021 Glennville shooting of 88-year-old Bobby Kicklighter, which GBI determined was a mistaken-identity hit allegedly ordered from inside Smith — the wrongful-death suit named former warden Brian Adams, not McFarlane — and GBI allegations that Adams gave false statements in a 2022 interview.
Telfair State Prison — Warden (from July 1, 2023). GPS records attribute 36 deaths at Telfair to this tenure. The best-documented is Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, 27, who died July 20, 2023 after officers placed him in a roughly 12-by-8.5-foot outdoor cage with no shade at a heat index near 105°F; he was left about five hours and arrived at a hospital with an internal temperature of 107°F. A 13WMAZ report on the resulting settlement states an officer allegedly responded "if he dies, he dies" as the inmate pleaded for help. Other recorded decedents include Kwesi Jamal Stultz (24, December 2023), Bobby Murray (51, December 2023), Joey Lebron Kilgore (46, February 2024), Zoumana Madiou Sarre (23, July 2024, multiple sharp-force injuries), Henry Crump (September 2024), Eric Whitehead (September 2024), Ezra Dangelo Ford (21, March 2025), Preston Cato Phelps (28, December 2025, investigated as a homicide by GDC's Office of Professional Standards) and, in 2026, Tavares Zavoyd Atwell, Timothy Wilson, Franciso Samuel Cruz-Castro, Antwane Shanfiel Robinson and Kwame Conte McCombs.
A March 2024 AJC column reported the Telfair warden was stabbed by an inmate during a contraband shakedown — a date on which McFarlane is listed as Warden. AJC reporting cited by GPS states Telfair was missing 76% of its essential workforce in March 2024 (36 officers for 1,400 prisoners) and, as of March 2025, had 79% of correctional officer positions unfilled (32 officers against a requirement of at least 153). Other allegations at Telfair during his tenure include an alleged two-year meth-smuggling scheme involving Sergeant Desiree Briley (AJC, January 2026), a claimed 2025 stabbing of De'ahmoz Oshmic Floyd when no staff were in the dorm, a 2026 stabbing lockdown, unreported group altercations, and a September 18, 2026 gang-related fight that injured three inmates and was followed by a system-wide GDC lockdown.
Litigation
- Hall v. McFarlane, No. 3:23-cv-00094 (S.D. Ga.), filed Nov. 29, 2023; terminated March 4, 2024.
- Bibiano v. Garrett, No. 3:25-cv-00013 (S.D. Ga.), filed Feb. 13, 2025; pending. The docket bears the surname of Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano; the records provided do not state whether the two are connected.
- Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, No. 1:25-cv-03191 (N.D. Ga.), filed June 6, 2025; terminated March 30, 2026.
- Daker v. Ward, No. 7:20-cv-00113 (M.D. Ga.), filed June 11, 2020; terminated Nov. 3, 2021 — filed while he was deputy warden at Smith.
- Timmons v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 6:17-cv-00116 (S.D. Ga.), filed Sept. 6, 2017; terminated March 25, 2021 — filed during his Rogers tenure.
- Jackson v. Catanzariti, No. 6:12-cv-00113 (S.D. Ga.), filed Dec. 10, 2012; terminated June 28, 2023.
No outcome amounts are recorded for these cases.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Telfair staffing, contraband and homicide reporting, 2024–2026
- 13WMAZ — 2026 report on the Telfair heat-exposure death and $3.2M settlement
- Yahoo News — 2026 report on an inmate accused of a bomb threat against an Atkinson County school
- Southern District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia and Middle District of Georgia dockets (CourtListener)
- Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — Telfair and Smith payouts
- GDC Office of Professional Standards investigation records (Phelps, Wilson)
- GPS case submissions — Telfair lockdown and altercation allegations, 2026
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Warden 3 | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2026-08-27 → present |
| WARDEN 3 | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| WARDEN 3 | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | |
| Warden 3 | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| Warden | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2023-07-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | 2023-01-01 → 2023-06-30 | |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | ROGERS STATE PRISON | 2017-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | ROGERS STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 |
| CORRECTION ADMINISTRATION | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:25-cv-03191 | GAND | 2025-06-06 | terminated |
| 3:25-cv-00013 | GASD | 2025-02-13 | pending |
| 3:23-cv-00094 | GASD | 2023-11-29 | terminated |
| 7:20-cv-00113 | GAMD | 2020-06-11 | terminated |
| 6:17-cv-00116 | GASD | 2017-09-06 | terminated |
| 6:12-cv-00113 | GASD | 2012-12-10 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
53 people died at facilities under McFarlane, Andrew M's leadership.
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