A 24-year-old woman was on Wednesday sentenced to 15 years in prison for forcing two Jamaican women into the sex trade.
Chevaneese Sasha Gay Hall, who is also a Jamaican citizen, is the first person in The Bahamas' history to be convicted of human trafficking.
Hall remained stoic as Senior Justice Jon Isaacs sentenced her to 15 years on four counts of trafficking in persons and seven years' imprisonment on two counts of unlawfully withholding the victims' passports.
Prosecutors said Hall recruited two women to work for her prostitution ring in January 2013.
The women, who were recruited separately, testified that they met Hall in Jamaica and she convinced them that she could get them jobs.
One said she was promised a job as a bartender; the other said she was promised a job as a masseuse.
However, Hall seized their passports once they came to the country and told them they would have to prostitute themselves.
The women said Hall dressed them up in provocative clothing and took pictures of them for prospective johns.
The women said they were closely managed and only left the apartment in Grand Bahama for jobs. However, the sex ring unravelled when one of the women escaped and alerted police.
Hall exercised her constitutional right to remain silent and called no witnesses in her defense.
Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham-Allen and Eucal Bonaby prosecuted.

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