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Inmates Say They Worked For Free For Jail Officials

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Former inmates at a Nashville jail said they worked without pay building cornhole games, plaques shaped like footballs, birdhouses and dog beds so that officials could sell them through their personal business.

Former inmates Larry Stephney and Charles Brew said they were supposed to be tutors in the building trades program at the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility. But rather than helping other students, they spent their days building things for officials to sell at the Nashville Flea Market and online.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed it has been probing allegations of misuse of inmate labor at the jail.

The facility has been run by Corrections Corporation of America through a contract with the Nashville sheriff's office. A CCA spokesman said the company does not comment on ongoing investigations. 

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)