Sampson, Gregory L

Tenure Summary

Gregory L. Sampson has spent a career rising through the Georgia Department of Corrections, beginning as a correctional officer at Rutledge State Prison in 2006 and eventually holding the top post—warden—at multiple facilities. Over two decades, Sampson has served in leadership roles at four prisons where GPS records attribute a total of 53 deaths during his tenure: 23 at Macon State Prison, 21 at Dooly State Prison, 6 at Central State Prison, and 3 at the Metro Reentry Facility. These deaths span from 2021 to 2026 and include a concentration of homicides, suicides, and natural causes, often occurring amid documented patterns of severe understaffing, overcrowding, and violence. A pending federal lawsuit, Mcneal v. Sampson, was filed against him in January 2026.

What happened on their watch

Central State Prison (2021)
Sampson served as correctional superintendent—the facility’s lead role—during 2021. Six deaths are attributed to his tenure. Among them, Joshua Carl Lester’s death was classified as a homicide; according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the cause was a stab wound to the chest. The remaining five deaths (Michael Stegall, Matthew Colozzi, Joseph Hamby, Demetrius Richardson, Adam West) are recorded under cause-category 6 (natural or undetermined), with ages ranging from 33 to 50.

Dooly State Prison (2023–2024)
As warden from 2023 through 2024, Sampson presided over a facility that saw 21 deaths. Four were homicides: Dimitri Merci Jackson (stab wound to the chest, per AJC), Chad Taylor Roadifer (delayed complications of blunt force head trauma, per AJC), Zeary Davante Davis (reportedly bled to death on a dorm floor), and Brian Lee Wainwright (homicide, per AJC). The remaining deaths are logged as cause-category 6, though some carried aggravating findings: a coroner alleged that Carlos Omar Soldiew-Acosta may have been dead for more than 24 hours before his body was found. During Sampson’s tenure, intel reports documented repeated gang-related fights, including one that sent nine inmates to hospitals and triggered a statewide lockdown in 2026 (though the lockdown itself outlasted his assignment). An inmate, Abraham Rivas, allegedly ran a phone-based fraud scheme from the prison, claiming staff were aware; another cadet, Julius Deshawn Williams Jr., was arrested trying to smuggle 640 grams of methamphetamine inside. Allegations also surfaced of extreme overcrowding—Dooly held 1,593 people in a facility designed for 750—and a staffing collapse that left housing units unsupervised for whole shifts.

Macon State Prison (Feb 2025 – Jan 15, 2026)
Sampson’s wardenship at Macon State Prison accounts for the highest death toll: 23 fatalities in less than a year. GPS records detail at least seven homicides: Marquis Young, Pierre Cedric Scott (killed by a cellmate in the hole), Xavier Adams, Lukas Lance Way (homicide in the hole), Sanchez Jackson (stabbed to death, family confirmed to media), D’Andrius Brown (homicide in the hole), and Marquel Smith. Two suicides—Calvin Earl Noble (by hanging) and Cassiem Mahlon Johnson—also occurred. The remaining deaths are attributed to natural or undetermined causes, including several prisoners in their 60s and 70s. During this period, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that roughly two-thirds of correctional officer posts at Macon were unfilled; a coroner described arriving to find only five to eight officers responsible for the entire prison. A 2025 DOJ investigation described an incident in which four gang members ran past an officer and fatally stabbed a prisoner, and earlier DOJ findings noted that most locks in the facility did not work. A family member said the warden gave only a brief call about a death and never followed up. Multiple officers were arrested for smuggling contraband, and inmate Devito Duran Young pleaded guilty to directing a fentanyl trafficking ring from inside the prison using a contraband cellphone.

Metro Reentry Facility (Jan 2025; Jan 16, 2026 – present)
Sampson served a short stint as warden in January 2025, then returned on January 16, 2026, in an ongoing role. Three deaths are attributed to the facility during his tenure: Donald Woods (65), Samuel Dennis Hunt (64), and Cedric Clement Pierce (61), all in early 2026 and all under cause-category 6. On January 17, 2026, one day after Sampson’s latest assignment began, Silas Westbrook—who had been injured in a riot at Washington State Prison—was transferred to Metro Reentry and pronounced dead after a medical emergency; the death is not counted among the 53 attributed but occurred at the facility under his watch.

Litigation

• Mcneal v. Sampson, No. 5:26-cv-00039 (GAMD, filed Jan. 27, 2026). The case remains pending. Outcome not yet public.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple homicide reports during 2023–2024 tenure at Dooly SP and 2025–2026 at Macon SP; DOJ- and coroner-reported failures at Macon.
• 13WMAZ — staffing and violence coverage at Macon SP; drug trafficking guilty plea by Devito Duran Young.
• WGXA — reports on gang-related fights at Dooly SP and a corrections cadet smuggling meth.
• Wesh.com / WALB — inmate fraud scheme allegations at Dooly SP.
• GPS records — death data, positions, and facility-level totals.
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia — docket for Mcneal v. Sampson.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Jul 12, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.