Philbin, Edward L

Tenure Summary

Edward L. Philbin's Georgia Department of Corrections personnel records list a Correction Administration post in 2015, followed by warden-level positions beginning in 2016. His only facility-linked leadership posting in these records is Warden of Augusta State Medical Prison, from December 1, 2017 to November 30, 2022. Salary records list him as "Warden 1" in 2016 and 2017 and "Warden 3" from 2018 through 2023; those payroll rows carry no facility name.

GPS attributes 179 deaths to his leadership tenure, every one of them at Augusta State Medical Prison. During that same tenure, Georgia's Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger records three liability payouts tied to the facility, and court records list him as a defendant in six lawsuits, four of them filed while he held the Augusta warden role. He is not named in any news report carried in these records.

What happened on their watch

Augusta State Medical Prison — Warden, December 1, 2017 – November 30, 2022

GPS attributes 179 deaths at Augusta State Medical Prison to this posting. The overwhelming majority of the deaths recorded in this period carry a cause category of Natural/Medical. The registry sample also records deaths the state classified as Suicide, Homicide and Unknown/Pending.

Named non-natural deaths while Philbin was Warden include Thomas Henry Giles, 31, who GPS's event record states died October 28, 2020, from inhalation of products of combustion after being left in his smoke-filled cell for hours. The GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger records a $3,000,000 liability payout tied to that incident; the death record states the state agreed to pay his family $5 million to settle a lawsuit over his death. Eddie Gosier, 39, died May 2, 2020, by ligature strangulation — per GPS's event record, hours after inmate Daniel Luke Ferguson was moved into his cell by guards, and Ferguson had a prior history of strangling an inmate at Hays State Prison. William Taylor Bodge, 61, died February 5, 2022, of delayed complications of blunt force injuries to the head suffered weeks earlier, with the incident date listed as January 20, 2022. Raphael Zachery Milligan, 41, died July 21, 2022, from blunt force injuries and strangulation; another prisoner was charged with his murder. Ali Lamont Tanner, 45, died July 2, 2021, from a stab wound to the neck. Terry Lee Bennett II, 43, died January 10, 2021, from blunt impact to the head.

Settlement-ledger entries tied to the facility while Philbin was Warden include $517,000 recorded against an incident involving Terry Anthony (2021) and $2,726.03 recorded against an incident involving Justina Collins-Powell (2022). GPS's event record also documents a 2018 lawsuit, Benning v. GDC, filed by Augusta State Medical Prison inmate Ralph Harrison Benning challenging GDC restrictions and censorship on inmate emails, including a 12-contact limit tied to the in-person visitation log.

The following deaths during Philbin's tenure appear in the GPS death registry:

• Seth Brandon Spangler died November 24, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Suicide.
• James Edward Hawes died November 19, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Jeffery Scott Wilson died November 8, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• James H Buchans died November 8, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Eric Dwight Rider died November 2, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Robert Lee Robinson died November 1, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Johnny Lafayette Mears died November 1, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Michael Lorenzo Ward died October 13, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Billy Gene Porter died October 10, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Daniel Keshawn Brown died October 9, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending.
• Samuel Lee Pettigrew died October 5, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Robert Lee Moore died October 4, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Michael Carnell Hurst died October 1, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Willie James Milledge died September 26, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Daryl Wayne Gordon died September 26, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Suicide.
• Ricky Lyn Siniard died September 10, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Fredrick Lee Davis died September 4, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Frank Parrish died August 31, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Harold Lee Render died August 24, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Mike Jethro Redford died August 10, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending.
• Gary B Sigmon died August 2, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Billy Charles Lewallen died July 30, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Rapheal Zachary Milligan died July 21, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide.
• Chance Jerod Perkins died July 16, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Lance E Frier died July 13, 2022, at Augusta State Medical Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.

Litigation

• Terrell v. Seals, case 5:24-cv-00295, court listed as GAMD, filed August 27, 2024; status pending, no outcome amount recorded. Philbin is listed as a defendant.
• Martin v. Philbin, case 1:19-cv-00216, court listed as GASD, filed December 17, 2019, terminated January 8, 2020; no outcome amount recorded.
• Danenberg v. Philbin, case 1:19-cv-00044, court listed as GASD, filed March 21, 2019, terminated December 20, 2019; no outcome amount recorded.
• Martin v. Philbin, case 1:18-cv-00212, court listed as GASD, filed December 10, 2018, terminated October 23, 2019; no outcome amount recorded.
• Martin v. Philbin, case 1:18-cv-00128, court listed as GASD, filed August 17, 2018, terminated January 8, 2019; no outcome amount recorded.
• Mosley v. Zachery, case 1:15-cv-00029, court listed as GAMD, filed January 28, 2015, terminated September 21, 2017; no outcome amount recorded. Philbin is listed as a defendant.

Sources

• CourtListener dockets — Terrell v. Seals, Martin v. Philbin (three dockets), Danenberg v. Philbin, Mosley v. Zachery
• Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — liability payouts tied to Augusta State Medical Prison (2020, 2021, 2022)
• GPS death registry and facility event records — deaths and documented incidents at Augusta State Medical Prison during the 2017–2022 warden tenure

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 11, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.