PHILYAW v. BALDWIN COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE et al

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATHENS DIVISION
CHRISTOPHER SHAWN :
PHILYAW, :
:
Plaintiff, :
:
VS. :
: NO. 3:25-cv-00160-TES-CHW
BALDWIN COUNTY SHERIFF’S :
OFFICE, et al., :
:
Defendants. :
ORDER
Pro se Plaintiff Christopher Sean Philyaw filed a civil complaint and moved to
proceed in forma pauperis. ECF No. 1; ECF No. 6. In his motion to proceed in forma
pauperis, Plaintiff indicated he has $20,000.00 in cash, $15,000.00 in a checking account,
$5,000.00 in a savings account, “billions” in cryptocurrency, and is owed more than
$100,000,000.00 by Johnson & Johnson. ECF No. 6 at 2–3. Based on these figures, the
Court determined that Plaintiff has sufficient assets (cash and money in checking and
savings account) to pay the civil action filing fee of $405.00. The Court, therefore, denied
Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis and ordered him to pay the filing fee if he
wanted to proceed with his civil action. ECF No. 8. Plaintiff failed to respond to the Court’s
Order. The Court, therefore, ordered Plaintiff to show cause why his case should not be
dismissed for failure to respond to the Court’s Order and prosecute his action. ECF No. 9.
Again, Plaintiff failed to respond.
Due to Plaintiff’s failure to follow the Court’s Orders and prosecute this action, the
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case is hereby DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b); Brown v.
Tallahassee Police Dep’t, 205 F. App’x 802, 802 (11th Cir. 2006) (first citing Fed. R. Civ.
P. 41(b); and then citing Lopez v. Aransas Cnty. Indep. Sch. Dist., 570 F.2d 541, 544 (5th
Cir. 1978)) (“The court may dismiss an action sua sponte under Rule 41(b) for failure to
prosecute or failure to obey a court order.”).
SO ORDERED, this 2nd day of February, 2026.
S/ Tilman E. Self, III
TILMAN E. SELF, III
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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