Former inmates say workers at Corrections Corporation of America used them for free labor. They say while serving their sentences, they built products that eventually lined the pockets of supervisors. Davidson County’s district attorney is investigating as well as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
“I was in a program called Building Trades,” said Larry Stephney. “I was straight-up told that things are being made for the flea market,” said Charlie Brew. Stephney and Brew say they kept busy while serving time at Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility. “After about two weeks, I figured something was going on,” said Stephney. They say they worked for free while prison supervisors made money. “Sometimes greed clouds your judgment,” said Brew. “I was once that type of person.” In the woodworking shop, they made a lot of things, five days a week. “Dog beds, plaques, cornhole tables, multiple number of cornhole tables,” said Brew. Its stuff they say their wood working instructor and another prison employee sold online and at Nashville’s flea market.
“I felt like they thought I was too dumb to realize what was going on,” said Stephney. Knowing that using inmates for free work and personal gain is illegal, they started writing letters. “I wrote letters to the DA’s office,” said Stephney. “I wrote letters to the news.”
Stephney and Brew say they worked with investigators to prove their woodwork was up for sale. They secretly wrote their names and a code on the items they made. “I was living in a constant state of fear,” said Brew A journalist with Prison Legal News and other investigators bought the products online and at the flea market. “If it was donated or something like that, fine,” said Stephney. “But this was used for profit.” Davidson County’s district attorney and the TBI say they continue to investigate. “Just because you’re an inmate doesn’t mean you’re word doesn’t count,” said Stephney. The two men, who worked their way through the justice system, are now the ones asking for justice. Metro’s detention facility is run by Corrections Corporation of America and it released this statement: