The Pentagon awarded a contract to make sports T-shirts for the army using prisoners for more than $16 million

The Pentagon has signed a contract worth more than $16 million to sew sports T-shirts for the American army using prisoners, according to American documents studied by RIA Novosti.

The contract was awarded to Federal Prison Industries Inc. in Jesup, Georgia, which operates under the UNICOR brand and is part of the US Federal Bureau of Prisons. UNICOR inmates earn between 23 cents and $1.15 an hour for such work, well below minimum wage, according to the bureau.

The minimum wage in Georgia is technically $5.15 per hour, but in practice almost all local residents are entitled to the federal minimum of $7.25.