FILE - In this Aug. 14, 2015 file photo, Larry Stephney holds a piece of wood with the number 412148 written on it that is from a product made while he was an inmate at a privately run prison in Nashville, Tenn. The number refers to a section of Tennessee code that makes it illegal for jail officials to require an inmate to perform labor that results in the official’s personal gain. Stephney says inmates were required to build plaques, birdhouses, dog beds and cornhole games for officials who sold the items through an online business and at a local flea market. Two Nashville jail employees and one former employee are charged with official misconduct, accused of pocketing money from the sale of inmate-made wooden plaques and games. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) (The Associated Press)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Two Nashville jail employees and one former employee are charged with official misconduct, accused of pocketing money from the sale of inmate-made wooden plaques and games.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says Robert Hill, Stephen Binkley and Roy Napper were arrested Tuesday.
The three are co-owners of Stand Firm Designs. Former inmates say they worked without pay to make products sold by the private business at the Nashville Flea Market and online.
The Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility is managed by Corrections Corporation of America. A CCA spokesman says the company cooperated with law enforcement on the investigation.
Hill, Binkley and Napper are free on a $1,000 bond each. They did not immediately return calls for comment.
Misuse of inmate labor at the jail was first exposed by Prison Legal News.
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