Sales, Timothy Deshaun

Tenure Summary

Timothy Deshaun Sales began his GDC career as a Sergeant at Dooly State Prison in 2003 and climbed steadily through the ranks — Lieutenant at Rutledge State Prison (2006), Chief of Security and then Correctional Unit Manager at Macon State Prison (2013–2016), Unit Manager at Autry State Prison (2017), and Deputy Warden at Macon State Prison (2018–2021) before transferring to Dooly State Prison as Deputy Warden in 2022 and ascending to Warden 1 in March 2023. GPS records show 33 deaths attributed to facilities during Sales's leadership-tier tenures: 19 at Macon State Prison while he served as Deputy Warden (2020–2021), 5 at Dooly State Prison while he served as Deputy Warden (2022), and 8 at Dooly State Prison during his tenure as Warden (March–December 2023). Among those deaths, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation identified at least 11 as homicides, with causes including stab wounds, blunt and sharp force trauma, ligature strangulation, and asphyxia. Two federal lawsuits name Sales as a defendant, both captioned Burke v. Sales.

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What Happened on Their Watch

Macon State Prison — Deputy Warden (2018–2021)

GPS records attribute 19 deaths to Macon State Prison during the years Sales held the Deputy Warden role there, spanning 2020 and 2021. Of those, the AJC's homicide investigation identified at least ten as violent deaths: Rafael Becerra Blass (stab wounds to upper torso, March 7, 2020, age 36); Carrington Jwon Frye (stab wounds to neck and chest, March 20, 2020, age 23); Johnny Young (sharp force injury to mouth/tongue, January 27, 2020, age 24); David Travis Dennis (multiple sharp force injuries, May 13, 2020, age 34); Cody Dustin Silvers (asphyxia, May 23, 2020, age 39); Bobby Edward Lee (ligature strangulation, July 13, 2020, age 38); Robbie Lee Brower (blunt and sharp force injuries to head and neck, October 4, 2020, age 58); Raul Villegas (stab wound to torso, December 13, 2020, age 37); Carlos Maurice Fisher (multiple sharp force injuries, May 10, 2021, age 30); and Ryan Weston Darville (stab wounds to chest, December 29, 2021, age 37). The remaining nine deaths in this period carry no AJC homicide notation in GPS records. According to the AJC, Frye's mother alleged her son bled for more than half an hour before help arrived after being stabbed. A federal lawsuit, per the AJC, alleges Bobby Edward Lee Jr. was strangled by his convicted murderer cellmate due to understaffing and indifference by prison officials; the AJC further reported that officials allegedly placed Lee in a cell with a prisoner who had previously killed a fellow parolee despite Lee's pleas for protection, and that no officers responded until after he was strangled. The AJC also reported that a DOJ report states four gang members ran past an officer to a kitchen area and fatally stabbed a prisoner, indicating a failure to prevent the assault. The AJC reported that Macon State Prison was critically understaffed, with the coroner observing only five to eight officers staffing the entire facility when responding to deaths, and that about two-thirds of correctional officer jobs at Macon State Prison were unfilled as of October 2024. According to the AJC, low staffing allowed gangs to exert influence in an environment where most locks did not work and prisoners could easily fabricate shanks from wall and ceiling materials. A separate AJC report alleged that a prisoner was placed in a cell with a known dangerous individual shortly before his scheduled release. Bey v. Georgia Department of Corrections (5:19-cv-00236, GAMD), filed June 14, 2019, and closed September 30, 2022, names the GDC as defendant during a period overlapping Sales's Deputy Warden tenure at Macon; per court records, disposition details are not available in GPS data.

Dooly State Prison — Deputy Warden (2022)

GPS records attribute five deaths to Dooly State Prison during Sales's year as Deputy Warden there: Richard Lavon Garland (January 1, 2022, age 66); Inocente Taboada (March 29, 2022, age 50); John Murray (April 14, 2022, age 25); Deroski Harris (May 17, 2022, age 36); and Ralph Scott Clemons (December 24, 2022, age 60). All five carry cause category 6 in GPS records, with no AJC homicide notation. The AJC separately reported allegations that a prisoner at Dooly suffered from uncontrolled diabetes for months and died of ketoacidosis in a case alleging medical malpractice, though that individual is not among the five deaths GPS attributes to Sales's Deputy Warden tenure period.

Dooly State Prison — Warden 1 (March–December 2023)

GPS records attribute eight deaths to Dooly State Prison during Sales's tenure as Warden: Jeremy John Wells (March 5, 2023, age 51); James Michael Bailey (April 8, 2023, age 44); Jared Alexander Hall (June 28, 2023, age 34); Willie Delane Snipes (August 6, 2023, age 39); Roy Mason Morris (October 15, 2023, age 64); Chad Taylor Roadifer (October 27, 2023, age 45); Joel Lamar Long (November 8, 2023, age 53); and Willie Frank Garrett (December 17, 2023, age 53). Seven carry cause category 6; Roadifer's death is identified by the AJC as caused by delayed complications of blunt force head trauma, interval months. According to the AJC, a coroner alleged that Carlos Omar Soldiew-Acosta — who died June 22, 2024, after Sales had departed the Warden 1 role — may have been dead for more than 24 hours before his body was found at Dooly; that death falls outside Sales's recorded Warden 1 tenure window per GPS records. Per WGXA, a corrections officer cadet, Julius Deshawn Williams Jr., pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine after allegedly attempting to smuggle 640 grams of pure methamphetamine into Dooly State Prison to give to an inmate. Per WALB, an incarcerated individual allegedly operated a phone fraud scheme from inside Dooly, with a source alleging correctional staff were aware of inmates running such schemes. Per GDC statements reported by WGXA and 13WMAZ, a gang-related fight injured five inmates at Dooly during this general period. GPS records also document a report that Dooly State Prison held 1,593 people in a facility designed for 750, operating at 212% of design capacity, with a statewide correctional officer vacancy rate averaging 50%. Two federal lawsuits name Sales directly: Burke v. Sales (5:23-cv-00458, GAMD), filed November 14, 2023, and closed March 19, 2024; and Burke v. Sales (1:24-cv-01202, GAND), filed March 19, 2024, and closed January 30, 2025. Both are terminated; no outcome amounts are recorded in GPS data.

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Litigation

• Burke v. Sales — Case No. 5:23-cv-00458, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (GAMD). Filed November 14, 2023; terminated March 19, 2024. No outcome amount recorded. (CourtListener)
• Burke v. Sales — Case No. 1:24-cv-01202, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (GAND). Filed March 19, 2024; terminated January 30, 2025. No outcome amount recorded. (CourtListener)
• Bey v. Georgia Department of Corrections — Case No. 5:19-cv-00236, GAMD. Filed June 14, 2019; terminated September 30, 2022. Sales is listed as a defendant. No outcome amount recorded. (CourtListener)

Note: GPS records also returned three additional case matches — Todd v. Capella Logistics Inc (1:22-cv-00108), Southern Coal Corporation v. Drummond Coal Sales Inc (1:17-cv-01104), and Trans Technologies Company v. Hendrickson USA LLC (1:16-cv-01778) — whose case names and subject matter do not indicate a connection to Timothy Deshaun Sales or GDC operations. GPS has not confirmed these as related to this individual.

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Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation; reporting on Macon State Prison staffing, homicide causes, and family allegations; reporting on Dooly State Prison medical care allegations and systemic conditions; reporting on Bobby Edward Lee Jr. cellmate placement and response failures
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — Reporting on DOJ deliberate indifference findings and Dooly State Prison medical care allegations (Cody Bailey/sepsis claim)
• WGXA — Reporting on Julius Deshawn Williams Jr. methamphetamine smuggling guilty plea at Dooly State Prison; reporting on gang-related fight at Dooly State Prison
• 13WMAZ — Reporting on gang-related fight at Dooly State Prison
• WALB — Reporting on Abraham Rivas phone fraud scheme at Dooly State Prison
• Solitary Watch — Reporting on Macon State Prison conditions during 2010 prisoner strike
• CourtListener / Federal Court Records — Burke v. Sales (5:23-cv-00458, GAMD); Burke v. Sales (1:24-cv-01202, GAND); Bey v. Georgia Department of Corrections (5:19-cv-00236, GAMD)
• GPS Records — Positions table, deaths-during-tenure table, intel reports, and intel events for Macon State Prison (facility ID 5) and Dooly State Prison (facility ID 17)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 10, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.