McFarlane, Andrew M

Tenure Summary

Andrew M. McFarlane first appears on GDC payroll in 2015 in correction administration ($43,949.81), moved to Rogers State Prison as a Correctional Unit Manager in 2016, then served as Deputy Warden at Rogers in 2017–2018 and at Smith State Prison from 2019 through the first half of 2023. On July 1, 2023 he became Warden of Telfair State Prison, the role GPS records still list for him in 2025 (Warden 3, $106,282.08). GPS assigns no facility to his January–June 2023 Deputy Warden posting.

Per GPS records, 53 deaths are attributed to facilities during his leadership tenures: 36 at Telfair State Prison and 17 at Smith State Prison. Court records list him as a defendant in six matters. One of them, Bibiano v. Garrett, tracks the heat-exposure death of Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, who died at Telfair on July 20, 2023 — nineteen days after McFarlane took the wardenship. 13WMAZ reported in June 2026 that the family reached a $3.2 million settlement with the State of Georgia.

What happened on their watch

Rogers State Prison (Unit Manager 2016; Deputy Warden 2017–2018). GPS attributes no deaths to this tenure. Its intel file for Rogers holds three undated recollections posted to a prison-family Facebook group in 2026 — a fan-motor fire in H-2 that a former prisoner says was blamed on an inmate, a GCI dairy work detail, and a counselor nicknamed "Cowboy" arrested over contraband. None names McFarlane and none is tied to a dated period of his tenure.

Smith State Prison (Deputy Warden, 2019 – June 2023). GPS records 17 deaths attributed to this tenure; the individual records it holds span February 2020 to October 2022. They include hangings recorded as suicides by GBI autopsies (Christopher Heath, Michael Lee Canty, Manuel Villagomez, Juan Miguel Orduna — noted in GPS files as the "Smith SP hanging cluster") and deaths the AJC's prison-homicide investigation records as stabbings or strangulations (Taylor Brooks, John Reyes, Justin Wilkerson, Desmond Hill, Derrick Harvey, Christopher Reynolds, Christopher Redwine, Nathan Mahan). Hiwatha Hakeem died in April 2021; a lawsuit over the death alleges the four prisoners who attacked him had a history of violence and that officials failed to provide timely, adequate medical care (AJC). In two cases the state declined to examine the body: Jerome Tisdol, 67, and Roderick Golden, 51 — GBI Division of Forensic Sciences responses state an examination "is not necessary," leaving cause of death to the county coroner (GDC separately coded Golden's death "natural" in data released to UCLA's Behind Bars project). During part of McFarlane's Smith tenure, GPS intel records carry multiple contraband/RICO allegations against then-Warden Brian Adams (The Georgia Virtue, AJC); no intel record in GPS files names McFarlane in those allegations.

Telfair State Prison (Warden, July 1, 2023 – present). GPS records 36 deaths attributed to this tenure. Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, 27, died July 20, 2023 after roughly five hours in an unshaded outdoor recreation cage at ~105°F heat index; the family's lawsuit alleges an officer responded "if he dies, he dies," and he arrived at hospital with a temperature of 107°F (13WMAZ). GDC reported the death as natural causes. Sampled records also include homicides — Kwesi Stultz, Joey Kilgore (stabbed while asleep in a dorm, per AJC and a prisoner account), Zoumana Sarre, Henry Crump, Eric Whitehead, Deandre Moody, Ezra Ford, Lester Smith, Malindzo Hatcher, Preston Phelps (gang fight, December 2025) — plus methamphetamine and synthetic-cannabinoid overdose deaths (David Campbell, 44; Robert Messer, 63, found dead in an older-prisoner dormitory at the 08:19 tray pickup), an acute myocardial infarction (Eric Haynes, Telfair County coroner), and numerous causes still pending. Robert Baker's October 2025 death was certified hanging/suicide, but the autopsy records unexplained abrasions on both hands including the knuckles, and the GDC incident report records the incident as "not video taped." Timothy Wilson's June 2026 death after an altercation is under GDC Office of Professional Standards investigation; deaths in 2026 include Kenneth Hinton, Tavares Atwell, Franciso Cruz-Castro, Antwane Robinson, and Kwame McCombs. An AJC opinion column (May 2026) states Telfair was missing 76% of its essential workforce, with 36 correctional officers supervising 1,400 prisoners; the AJC separately reports DOJ scrutiny of GDC since September 2021.

Litigation

• Bibiano v. Garrett (3:25-cv-00013, S.D. Ga., filed Feb. 13, 2025) — the heat-exposure wrongful-death case over Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano; docket listed as pending, with a $3.2 million settlement with the State reported by 13WMAZ in June 2026.
• Hall v. Mcfarlane (3:23-cv-00094, S.D. Ga., filed Nov. 29, 2023; terminated March 4, 2024).
• Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order (1:25-cv-03191, N.D. Ga., filed June 6, 2025; terminated March 30, 2026).
• Daker v. Ward (7:20-cv-00113, M.D. Ga., filed June 11, 2020; terminated Nov. 3, 2021) — overlaps his Smith posting.
• Timmons v. Georgia Department of Corrections (6:17-cv-00116, S.D. Ga., filed Sept. 6, 2017; terminated March 25, 2021) — filed during his Rogers deputy-warden tenure.
• Jackson v. Catanzariti (6:12-cv-00113, S.D. Ga., filed Dec. 10, 2012; terminated June 28, 2023) — filed before his earliest listed GDC position.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia prison homicides investigation and decedent list; "Prisons' Inside Job" and contraband/RICO coverage at Smith SP; May 2026 opinion column on Telfair staffing (76% workforce gap) and DOJ scrutiny since Sept. 2021.
• 13WMAZ — Ramirez Bibiano heat-death coverage and the reported $3.2 million settlement; Aaron Smith stabbing.
• Telfair County Coroner records (2015–2026 releases) — certifications for Ramirez, Jordan, Stultz, Sarre, Crump, Whitehead, Moody, Ford, Lester Smith, Hatcher, Phelps, Baker, Campbell, Messer, Thomason, Garcia-Nelasco, Haynes.
• GBI Division of Forensic Sciences autopsy and consultation responses — Smith SP hanging cluster; Tisdol and Golden examination refusals.
• GDC incident and mortality records (incident report 425303; June 2026 mortality list).
• The Georgia Virtue — Brian Adams indictment and contraband-scheme allegations at Smith SP.
• The Marshall Project — Smith SP understaffing and overtime data.
• CourtListener dockets (GAND, GASD, GAMD case numbers above).
• GPS intel file — Rogers SP Facebook-group accounts; AJC claims regarding De'ahmoz Oshmic Floyd at Telfair.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 13, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.