Two more of the nine straw vendors that were arrested in New York have pleaded guilty to charges of trafficking in counterfeit goods and were released after being sentenced to time served.
Judy Duncombe and Margaret Pierre were ordered to leave the United States immediately.
The two presiding judges in the cases, Judge Thomas Griesa and Judge Castel, received letters written by Consul General Carl Smith on behalf of the Bahamas government asking for a time-served disposition.
Attorney Elliot Sagor, the attorney hired by the Bahamas government, said that the remaining six vendors should appear before the courts within the next two weeks.
The vendors faced possible sentences of six months in jail had they been indicted and convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States for being in possession of illegal counterfeit items.
To date, no indictments have been filed by Christopher Fry, the Southern District of New York prosecutor, according to Mr Sagor.
PLP MP Fred Mitchell intends to write to the New York Times in an effort to raise public opinion on the situation in the United States.
This move could backfire as the majority of Americans would probably think the vendors should be thrown in jail for six months.
Public opinion in The Bahamas, outside the criminal element that is so prevelant here, feel that the vendors had been sufficiently warned to stop trafficking in counterfeit merchandise.
Comments on this website and others indicate that most law-abiding Bahamians have little sympathy for the vendors.
Nonetheless, Mitchell, threatens to organize a demonstration by the Bahamian community in New York and is considering seeking the intervention of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).
