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Pineiro, Aaron Thomas
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
Aaron Thomas Pineiro entered the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2007 as a correctional officer at Valdosta State Prison, returned there in 2015 as a behavioral health counselor, and moved to Georgia State Prison in 2016 as a behavioral health counselor supervisor ($36,649.72 in salary records that year). He became a deputy warden at Georgia State Prison in 2017 and served there through 2018, then returned to Valdosta as deputy warden for 2019–2021. In 2022 he took his first facility command, as Warden 1 at Coastal State Prison, a role he held through mid-2024. Since January 2024 he has been listed at Phillips State Prison, as Warden 2 and, from June 16, 2024, as Warden; records also show him concurrently listed as Warden at Coastal through June 15, 2024.
According to GPS's tally, 85 deaths are attributed to facilities during Pineiro's leadership tenures: 40 at Coastal State Prison, 33 at Phillips State Prison, and 12 at Valdosta State Prison. Court records list him as a defendant in nine federal suits filed between 2017 and 2026, six of them filed while he held a facility command. Georgia Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) risk-management settlement ledgers record 14 state liability payouts tied to facilities he commanded or seconded, among them $600,000 tied to a 2022 Coastal incident and $115,000 tied to a 2018 Georgia State Prison incident.
What happened on their watch
Valdosta State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2019–2021. Twelve deaths are attributed to Valdosta during this posting, spanning January 2020 to June 2021. Event records document several as stabbings: Bobby Carpenter, 31, died September 9, 2020 from a stab wound to the chest; Orvonta Tillman, 36, died June 16, 2020 from multiple sharp-force penetrating trauma to the thorax; and Prince Leonard Blige, 54, died February 12, 2020 from a stab wound to the torso. Decedents ranged in age from 29 (Norman Leon Davis, January 2021) to 74 (Ralph Bell Johnson, April 2021). Eight DOAS liability payouts are tied to Valdosta incidents during his tenure — seven dated 2019 totaling $36,450, and a $60,000 payment tied to a 2021 incident involving Terry Berrian. Two federal suits were filed while he was deputy warden there: Daker v. Ward (June 2020, M.D. Ga.) and Mosley v. Caraviello (November 2019, S.D. Ga.).
Coastal State Prison — Warden 1 / Warden 2 / Warden, 2022–2024. Forty deaths are attributed to Coastal during his command, with decedents ranging from 25 to 85 years old. Documented deaths include Ryan Chase Archer, 25, stabbed in the chest December 13, 2023 after a fight with other prisoners — he was due for release in 2024; Salomon Andres Ramirez, 43, who died October 20, 2023 in what GDC classified as an apparent homicide, with no cause stated and no death certificate available; and Raymond Littles, 49, who died April 16, 2024 in an incident classified as a homicide, with another prisoner disciplined. A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice investigation concluded that Georgia prisons, Coastal among them, fail to protect incarcerated people from violence and neglect and violate the Eighth Amendment. DOAS ledgers record an $8,000 payout tied to a 2023 Coastal incident (Ronald Ray Agan) and the $600,000 Dennis Carpenter payout tied to a 2022 incident. Three suits were filed while he commanded Coastal: Brewer v. Chambers (November 2022), Browner v. Brown (June 2023), and Doe v. Georgia Department of Corrections (December 2023).
Phillips State Prison — Warden 2 / Warden, 2024–present. Thirty-three deaths are attributed to Phillips during his tenure. Among them, event records state David Fambro, 69, died July 24, 2024 from complications of facial fractures with an interval of 26 days, and that incident-report data shows a homicide. The Phillips deaths skew young for a facility with an older population: Timothy Hurley was 19, Ryan Willis 24, Corey Cochran 29, Nile Young 33, Kendrick Scales 35, and Christopher Hines and Justin Kinsey both 37. Two January 21, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports carried allegations about Phillips while Pineiro was Warden 2 — that Dave Stone was assaulted in a mental health ward, apparently with two pipes wrapped in a cloth, resulting in brain death; and that officers arranged for McBride to be brought to the lockdown unit on the day he was killed in a gang-related stabbing. Three suits list him as a defendant from this period: Patrick v. Moore (October 2024), Daker v. Oliver (June 2025, terminated March 2026), and McKenzie v. Oliver (April 2026).
Georgia State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2017–2018. No deaths are attributed to Georgia State Prison in GPS's facility tally for his deputy wardenship. Four DOAS payouts are tied to 2018 incidents there, including $115,000 (Seth Rouzan) and $8,408.43 (Sue Hobbs). His earlier 2016 counselor-supervisor post at Georgia State Prison was a non-leadership role.
Litigation
- Young v. Smith, No. 6:17-cv-00131 (S.D. Ga.), filed Oct. 2, 2017; terminated March 16, 2021.
- Mosley v. Caraviello, No. 6:19-cv-00100 (S.D. Ga.), filed Nov. 4, 2019; terminated May 6, 2021.
- Daker v. Ward, No. 7:20-cv-00113 (M.D. Ga.), filed June 11, 2020; terminated Nov. 3, 2021.
- Brewer v. Chambers, No. 4:22-cv-00264 (S.D. Ga.), filed Nov. 9, 2022; terminated July 25, 2024.
- Browner v. Brown, No. 4:23-cv-00167 (S.D. Ga.), filed June 21, 2023; pending.
- Doe v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 1:23-cv-05578 (N.D. Ga.), filed Dec. 6, 2023; pending.
- Patrick v. Moore, No. 4:24-cv-00242 (S.D. Ga.), filed Oct. 24, 2024; pending.
- Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, No. 1:25-cv-03191 (N.D. Ga.), filed June 6, 2025; terminated March 30, 2026.
- Mckenzie v. Oliver, No. 4:26-cv-00108 (N.D. Ga.), filed April 28, 2026; pending.
Sources
- CourtListener federal dockets (N.D., M.D., and S.D. Ga.) — case names, filing and termination dates for all nine suits.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Ga. prison homicides: a list of those killed in Georgia's prison system" — January 21, 2025 allegations concerning Dave Stone and McBride at Phillips State Prison.
- Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — 14 liability payouts tied to Coastal, Valdosta, and Georgia State Prison.
- U.S. Department of Justice 2024 investigation into Georgia prison conditions (Eighth Amendment findings, including Coastal State Prison).
- GDC incident-report data, death certificates, and facility event records as compiled in GPS's personnel file for Pineiro.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 2 | PHILLIPS STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → present |
| Warden | PHILLIPS STATE PRISON | 2024-06-16 → present |
| Warden | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → 2024-06-15 |
| 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
85 people died at facilities under Pineiro, Aaron Thomas's leadership.
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