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Pineiro, Aaron Thomas
Status: active
Profile written August 2, 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
Aaron Thomas Pineiro entered the Georgia Department of Corrections as a correctional officer in 2007 and returned in 2015 as a behavioral health counselor before rising to deputy warden, then warden, across four state prisons. During his leadership tenures — Deputy Warden at Valdosta State Prison (2019–2021), Warden at Coastal State Prison (2022–2023), and Warden at Phillips State Prison (2024–present) — GPS records attribute a combined 81 deaths to the facilities under his authority: 12 at Valdosta, 30 at Coastal, and 39 at Phillips. His earlier Deputy Warden post at Georgia State Prison (2017–2018) has no attributed deaths. Pineiro is named as a defendant in nine civil-rights lawsuits, several of which remain pending and allege failures to protect incarcerated people from violence, deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, and unconstitutional conditions of confinement. His watch has been marked by repeated homicides, a succession of inmate deaths with contested causes, a federal judge’s sanctions against the agency for destroying evidence, and persistent media reports of severe understaffing and staff misconduct.What happened on their watch
Georgia State Prison (2017–2018, Deputy Warden) GPS records show no deaths attributed to Pineiro’s tenure as Deputy Warden at Georgia State Prison. However, during this period the facility was the site of serious allegations later documented by The Georgia Virtue: an incarcerated person, David Cassady, reported being sexually assaulted in 2018, having his claims deemed “unfounded” by GDC, and then facing retaliation when the alleged assailant was returned to his cell block. Cassady also alleged prolonged solitary confinement without required segregation hearings (The Georgia Virtue). These claims extend beyond Pineiro’s precise dates but indicate the conditions present at the facility during his service.Valdosta State Prison (2019–2021, Deputy Warden)
Twelve deaths occurred at Valdosta while Pineiro served as Deputy Warden. Among them, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s homicide investigation identified three individuals killed by stabbing: Bobby Lane Carpenter (stab wound to the chest), Orvonta Casmir Tillman (multiple sharp-force trauma), and Prince Blige (stab wound to torso). During the same period, the AJC documented extreme understaffing — officer vacancies reportedly reached 80% — and detailed at least six officers aiding an inmate-run contraband network that used drone deliveries and financial transactions (AJC). A separate lawsuit later revealed that in February 2022, Officer Angela Butler locked a handcuffed man in a cell with an unrestrained cellmate, leading to his stabbing death; a federal judge sanctioned GDC for destroying surveillance video of the killing and for Butler’s false testimony (AJC). While the fatal incident occurred after Pineiro’s departure, the conditions that enabled it — including chronic understaffing and officer misconduct — were well established during his tenure.
Coastal State Prison (2022–2023, Warden)
As Warden of Coastal State Prison, Pineiro oversaw a facility where 30 deaths were recorded. One death, that of Salomon Andres Ramirez, was listed as an apparent homicide (AJC). Many other deaths were assigned to an undetermined cause category. Workers and incarcerated people described a “human rights crisis” to WTOC: correctional officers routinely beat people, withheld food as punishment, and subjected the population to lockdowns lasting up to ten days without showers. The facility’s infrastructure was called crumbling, with black mold, rodent infestations, and frequent HVAC failures. A public health inspection in April 2026 would later issue a score of 70, citing live roaches and a dead mouse in backed-up water — a decline that began during Pineiro’s tenure. An employee was arrested for trading with incarcerated people without warden consent. A federal judge, meanwhile, publicly rebuked GDC Commissioner Tyrone Oliver for failure to comply with court orders related to prison conditions (WTOC).
Phillips State Prison (2024–present, Warden)
Pineiro’s current command holds the highest number of attributed deaths: 39 as of this record. The Gwinnett County Medical Examiner classified five of these as homicides: Jody Stokes (strangulation, per GDC mortality data), Corey Cochran, Brandon Mincey, Timothy Hurley (age 19), and David E. Fambro. Suicides include Nile Baptiste Young, William Jason McClure, and Christopher Blake Hines; GBI toxicology reports for some remained incomplete sixteen to twenty-one months after the deaths. The death of Leroy Brooks is contested by his family, who told the coroner “it can’t be natural causes,” citing his history of being beaten in custody and a prior lawsuit (Gwinnett County ME case 24G-2185). The AJC reported allegations that officers arranged for one man to be brought to a lockdown unit the day he was killed in a gang-related stabbing, and that another was assaulted in a mental health ward. Pineiro remains the sitting warden as these incidents accumulate.
Litigation
- Mckenzie v. Oliver, 4:26-cv-00108 (N.D. Ga., filed Apr. 28, 2026) – pending.
- Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, 1:25-cv-03191 (N.D. Ga., filed Jun. 6, 2025) – terminated Mar. 30, 2026.
- Patrick v. Moore, 4:24-cv-00242 (S.D. Ga., filed Oct. 24, 2024) – pending.
- Doe v. Georgia Department of Corrections, 1:23-cv-05578 (N.D. Ga., filed Dec. 6, 2023) – pending.
- Browner v. Brown, 4:23-cv-00167 (S.D. Ga., filed Jun. 21, 2023) – pending.
- Brewer v. Chambers, 4:22-cv-00264 (S.D. Ga., filed Nov. 9, 2022) – terminated Jul. 25, 2024.
- Daker v. Ward, 7:20-cv-00113 (M.D. Ga., filed Jun. 11, 2020) – terminated Nov. 3, 2021.
- Mosley v. Caraviello, 6:19-cv-00100 (S.D. Ga., filed Nov. 4, 2019) – terminated May 6, 2021.
- Young v. Smith, 6:17-cv-00131 (S.D. Ga., filed Oct. 2, 2017) – terminated Mar. 16, 2021.
Sources
- GPS records — career positions, attributed death totals, and facility-level death counts.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — homicide reports for Valdosta State Prison, Coastal State Prison, and Phillips State Prison; investigation of staffing shortages, contraband operations, and officer misconduct; reporting on the destruction of video evidence and federal sanctions.
- Gwinnett County Coroner / GBI Medical Examiner reports (obtained via ORR) — cause and manner determinations for deaths at Phillips State Prison, including contested case of Leroy Brooks.
- GDC-released mortality data (January 2025) — cause of death for Jody Stokes and others at Phillips.
- WTOC — reporting on human rights crisis, infrastructure, and health inspection failures at Coastal State Prison.
- WALB — reporting on assaults and delayed discovery of deaths at Valdosta State Prison.
- The Georgia Virtue — allegations of sexual assault, solitary confinement, and failed investigations at Georgia State Prison.
- Federal court dockets (CourtListener) — lawsuits naming Pineiro as defendant.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 2 | PHILLIPS STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → present |
| Warden | PHILLIPS STATE PRISON | 2024-06-16 → present |
| WARDEN 2 | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2017-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR SPV | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 |
| BEH HEALTH/COUNSELOR (WL) | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Correctional Officer | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2007-01-01 → 2007-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4:26-cv-00108 | GAND | 2026-04-28 | pending |
| 1:25-cv-03191 | GAND | 2025-06-06 | terminated |
| 4:24-cv-00242 | GASD | 2024-10-24 | pending |
| 1:23-cv-05578 | GAND | 2023-12-06 | pending |
| 4:23-cv-00167 | GASD | 2023-06-21 | pending |
| 4:22-cv-00264 | GASD | 2022-11-09 | terminated |
| 7:20-cv-00113 | GAMD | 2020-06-11 | terminated |
| 6:19-cv-00100 | GASD | 2019-11-04 | terminated |
| 6:17-cv-00131 | GASD | 2017-10-02 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
81 people died at facilities under Pineiro, Aaron Thomas's leadership.
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