Robert Roberson and Marcus Phillips, Neglecting Inmate, Georgia 2020

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia has returned a two-count indictment charging former Augusta State Medical Prison Correctional Officers Robert Roberson and Marcus Phillips with violating the constitutional rights of an inmate by showing deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm to an inmate, resulting in his death.

The indictment further charges Roberson with falsifying a logbook to cover up his misconduct.

The indictment alleges that on Oct. 28, 2020, Roberson and Phillips became aware of a smoldering fire in an inmate’s cell, and, rather than extinguish the smoldering fire, evacuate the inmate from his cell, remediate the smoke from the cell, or call a fire emergency over the radio, they willfully disregarded the substantial risk of serious harm to the inmate by leaving him in his locked cell for several hours while he slowly died from smoke inhalation.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Tara M. Lyons for the Southern District of Georgia, and Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown of the FBI Augusta Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Augusta Resident Agency is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kirkland for the Southern District of Georgia and Special Litigation Counsel Christopher J. Perras and Trial Attorney Briana M. Clark of the Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

**Defendant Information:** Robert Roberson and Marcus Phillips are the defendants in this case. They were charged with violating the constitutional rights of an inmate by showing deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm to an inmate, resulting in his death, and Robert Roberson was also charged with falsifying a logbook to cover up his misconduct.

**Crime Date:** The crime allegedly occurred on Oct. 28, 2020.

**Case Status:** This case is currently ongoing and has not yet reached a verdict.

**Defendant Name:** Robert Roberson and Marcus Phillips

**Criminal Charges:** Violating the constitutional rights of an inmate by showing deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm to an inmate, resulting in his death, and falsifying a logbook to cover up misconduct

**City and State:** Augusta, Georgia

**Outcome:** Ongoing case, no sentence or outcome has been determined yet.

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