Two former BYU-Idaho students who stole tens of thousands of dollars of books from the campus bookstore are speaking exclusively to Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Nate Eaton

Bronson Chikusu and Andrew Sinyangwe have been in the Madison County Jail since February.

Bronson Chikusu: "I've never been in jail before."

Andrew Sinyangwe: "It's not a good place. Six months is enough for a person to sit in a county jail."

The pair is charged with stealing tens of thousands of dollars of books from the BYU-Idaho bookstore. They pleaded guilty and were supposed to be released in August to be deported back to their homes in Africa.

Sinyangwe: "We got sentenced to six months. We did our time."

The pair is still being held as material witnesses to testify against Zachariah Rodgers. He's the man police say Chikusu and Sinyangwe sold books to and then Rodgers would turn around and sell them online.

Sinyangwe: "There is nothing I'm going to tell them cause they're trying to find out if the guy knows that the books were stolen. Well, he didn't know. If he knew, he's not gonna buy them."

Rodgers is out on bond. His trial is set for December and that makes these guys angry.

Sinyangwe: "I'm sitting here on a quarter of a million bond like I killed somebody. And that guy is being charged with possession of stolen property and he's outside. His bond was ten thousand and he got out with one thousand bucks. And I'm sitting here quarter of a million because I'm black.

Nate Eaton, Channel 3: "You think it's because you're black?"

Sinyangwe: "It definitely is. It is. This district attorney...I don't think he likes black people."

Sinyangwe says they are being targeted because of their race but officials say the men haven't been released because they may flee the state or the country.

Eaton: "They say it's because they're afraid if they let you out, you guys will leave."

Sinyangwe: "I'm not a flight risk. They can hold my passport. Where am I gonna go without my passport?"

Chikusu: "There is no need for me to flee the country if the state was holding my visa and my passport."

The men say over the past nine months, a lot of false rumors and reports about them and their crimes have been spread.

Sinyangwe: "The news, channel 8, they're claiming that we're selling this stuff to the whole world."

But Sinyangwe says they only sold the books to Rodgers. The men also say they didn't take as many books as officials say they did. Still, they were both charged with multiple felony counts of burglary and grand theft.

Eaton: "Do you feel bad about what you did?"

Chikusu: "Definitely. I feel bad for what I did and at the same time I feel good because I've learned my lesson."

Chikusu and Sinyangwe say they just want to be released so they can go home. And the longer they stay locked up, the more they wonder why they're still here.

Sinyangwe: "To me it looks like this is just a political slap on my face and on my country and on my continent too."

The men's attorney is working to get them out of jail as soon as possible. They also plan to fight against being deported.

As for the Madison County prosecutors office, we called them and visited their office for a comment on this story but our messages were not returned.