() – On August 5th, a federal grand jury indicted two former Augusta State Medical Prison Correctional Officers.

Authorities say Robert Roberson and Marcus Phillips neglected a fire which resulted in an inmate’s death.

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

The indictment alleges that on October 28th, 2020, Roberson and Phillips became aware of a smoldering fire in an inmate’s cell, and, rather than put out the blaze and remove the the inmate from his cell, clear the smoke from the cell, or call a fire emergency over the radio, they ignored the risk of serious harm to the inmate by leaving him in his locked cell for several hours while he slowly died from smoke inhalation.  

The FBI Augusta Resident Agency is investigating the case.