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Sales, Timothy Deshaun
Status: active
Profile written May 31, 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
Timothy Deshaun Sales began his career with the Georgia Department of Corrections as a sergeant at Dooly State Prison in 2003, later serving as a lieutenant at Rutledge State Prison. Over the next two decades, he cycled through roles of increasing authority at Macon State Prison—chief of security, unit manager, and ultimately deputy warden from 2018 through 2021. In 2022, he moved to Dooly as deputy warden, and then from March through December 2023 he held the top facility lead post as warden. GPS records attribute a total of 33 deaths to Sales’ leadership tenures: 20 at Macon State Prison while he was deputy warden, and 13 at Dooly State Prison during his combined time as deputy warden and warden. Two federal civil actions—Burke v. Sales—were filed against him, both later terminated without a recorded settlement or judgment. Allegations of critically low staffing, rampant contraband smuggling, gang-perpetrated violence, and medical neglect surfaced repeatedly from both facilities on his watch.What happened on their watch
Macon State Prison — Deputy Warden (2018–2021)
During Sales’ four-year tenure as deputy warden, Macon State Prison recorded 20 deaths. The available incident sample from 2020 and 2021 includes multiple homicides documented by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Georgia prison homicides investigation: Ryan Darville (stab wounds to chest), Carlos Fisher (multiple sharp force injuries), Raul Villegas (stab wound to torso), Robbie Brower (blunt and sharp force injuries to head and neck), Bobby Edward Lee Jr. (ligature strangulation), Cody Silvers (asphyxia), David Dennis (multiple sharp force injuries), Carrington Frye (stab wounds to neck and chest), Rafael Becerra Blass (stab wounds to upper torso), and Johnny Young (sharp force injury to mouth/tongue). Other deaths with causes categorized as unknown were also recorded.Broader systemic failures were documented at the facility during this period. A federal lawsuit alleged that Bobby Edward Lee Jr. was strangled by his convicted-murderer cellmate after officials placed him there despite his pleas for protection and that understaffing and indifference contributed to his death. The mother of Carrington Frye alleged he bled for more than half an hour after being stabbed before help arrived. A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report later described conditions where gang-run assaults and stabbings had become routine at woefully understaffed Georgia prisons; at Macon, the coroner reported responding to deaths with only five to eight officers staffing the entire facility. Multiple inmates, including Devito Duran Young, coordinated drug trafficking operations from inside the prison using contraband cellphones. In September 2024, four officers were arrested on charges of violating their oath and providing false statements.
Dooly State Prison — Deputy Warden (2022)
As deputy warden at Dooly in 2022, Sales oversaw a facility where five deaths recorded in the sample occurred: Ralph Clemons (December 24), Inocente Taboada (March 29), John Murray (April 14), Deroski Harris (May 17), and Richard Garland (January 1). All five have recorded cause categories of an unspecified or unknown nature. The total attributed to Sales’ tenures at Dooly is 13, meaning these deaths represent part of a longer pattern that continued into his time as warden.Dooly State Prison — Warden (March–December 2023)
After being promoted to warden on March 1, 2023, an additional eight deaths were recorded at Dooly through the end of the year, according to GPS records. Among them, Chad Roadifer died on October 27 from delayed complications of blunt force head trauma, a homicide identified by the AJC investigation. The other seven decedents—Jeremy Wells, James Bailey, Jared Hall, Willie Snipes, Roy Morris, Joel Long, and Willie Garrett—had causes categorized as unknown in available records. An AJC-coroner allegation separately claimed that another inmate may have been dead for more than 24 hours before his body was found.During Sales’ wardenship, media accounts and intelligence reports captured severe institutional strain. Dooly was housing roughly 1,593 people in a facility originally designed for 750, while statewide correctional officer vacancies hovered around 50 percent. Reports describe housing units left unsupervised for hours or entire shifts. Multiple gang-related fights erupted, including one in March 2023 that sent five inmates to the hospital and another in the fall that injured nine. Contraband smuggling was a recurring issue: inmate Abraham Rivas allegedly ran phone-fraud schemes from inside, using proceeds to buy marijuana and claiming staff knew of the activity; a corrections officer cadet was caught with 640 grams of pure methamphetamine intended for an inmate. A separate allegation from a public Facebook post claimed the commissary was severely understocked for weeks, effectively starving residents. A lawsuit filed over James Yarbrough’s death, though predating Sales’ tenure as warden, alleged medical malpractice for uncontrolled diabetes at Dooly.
Litigation
- Burke v. Sales, 5:23-cv-00458 (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, filed Nov. 14, 2023, terminated Mar. 19, 2024). No outcome amount.
- Burke v. Sales, 1:24-cv-01202 (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, filed Mar. 19, 2024, terminated Jan. 30, 2025). No outcome amount.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — “Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation” (multiple homicide cause-of-death details at Macon State Prison and Dooly State Prison); reporting on understaffing, locking failures, and the DOJ investigation; coverage of the Bobby Edward Lee Jr. lawsuit and family allegations.
- U.S. Department of Justice — October 2024 report describing routine violence and understaffing in Georgia prisons.
- 13WMAZ — reports on drug trafficking from Macon State Prison and gang-related fights at Dooly State Prison.
- Wesh.com / WALB — reports on inmate Abraham Rivas’s fraud scheme and claims of staff knowledge at Dooly State Prison.
- WGXA — accounts of contraband smuggling (methamphetamine) and gang-related altercations at Dooly State Prison.
- Georgia Public Broadcasting — report on medical neglect allegations at Dooly.
- Solitary Watch — reporting on the 2010 Macon State Prison strike and cutting of hot water.
- CourtListener — dockets for Burke v. Sales (5:23-cv-00458 and 1:24-cv-01202).
- GPS records — authoritative totals of 33 deaths attributed to Sales’ leadership tenures, and per-facility breakdown (20 Macon, 13 Dooly).
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 3 | 2024-01-01 → present | |
| WARDEN 1 | DOOLY STATE PRISON | 2023-03-01 → 2023-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | DOOLY STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | MACON STATE PRISON | 2018-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | AUTRY STATE PRISON | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | MACON STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 |
| CORRECTION ADMINISTRATION | MACON STATE PRISON | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Chief of Security | MACON STATE PRISON | 2013-01-01 → 2013-12-31 |
| Lieutenant | RUTLEDGE STATE PRISON | 2006-01-01 → 2006-12-31 |
| Sergeant | DOOLY STATE PRISON | 2003-01-01 → 2003-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:24-cv-01202 | GAND | 2024-03-19 | terminated |
| 5:23-cv-00458 | GAMD | 2023-11-14 | terminated |
| 1:22-cv-00108 | GAND | 2022-01-10 | terminated |
| 5:19-cv-00236 | GAMD | 2019-06-14 | terminated |
| 1:17-cv-01104 | GAND | 2017-03-27 | terminated |
| 1:16-cv-01778 | GAND | 2016-06-01 | terminated |
| 1:15-cv-03904 | GAND | 2015-11-10 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
33 people died at facilities under Sales, Timothy Deshaun's leadership.
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