Alexander Brothers Face Life Sentence for Sex Trafficking Over a Dozen Women
Three brothers — Tal, Alon and Oren Alexander — are to be sentenced Tuesday in Manhattan federal court after a jury convicted them on all sex trafficking counts.
Alexander Brothers Face Life in Prison at Manhattan Sex Trafficking Sentencing
Three brothers who once moved freely among New York and Miami's wealthiest social circles face potential life sentences in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday, CNN.com reports. Tal, Alon and Oren Alexander were convicted earlier this year on all counts, including sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, following a five-week trial.
Prosecutors presented evidence of a yearslong pattern in which the brothers used their wealth and social status to lure women to luxury parties and vacation destinations, drug them, then rape and sexually assault them — often while victims were unconscious or severely incapacitated. The crimes spanned from 2008 to 2021, though prosecutors say the pattern of abuse traces back as far as 2001 or 2002, when the brothers were still in high school.
Who the Brothers Are
Before their arrests, Tal, 40, and Oren, 39, were prominent figures in New York's luxury real estate market. Alon, Oren's twin, held an executive position at the family's security firm and moved in the same social circles as his brothers. All three were convicted of sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, and inducing travel for unlawful sexual activity. Alon and Tal were also convicted of sex trafficking a minor; the twins faced additional sex abuse counts; and Oren was found guilty of sexual exploitation of a minor.
More Than 70 Women Came Forward
Over 70 women reported the brothers' attacks to investigators, according to prosecutors' sentencing memo. Eleven women ultimately testified at trial. The assaults took place at luxury locations including the Hamptons, Aspen, Manhattan, the Bahamas, and aboard a Caribbean cruise.
Trial evidence showed the brothers recorded some of their assaults — often carried out together or with other men — and shared the recordings with each other and with friends. The jury viewed evidence recovered from the men's devices years after the assaults took place.
One victim, who was 17 years old when she was drugged by Oren Alexander, testified she only discovered she had been raped when government investigators contacted her after identifying her in a 2009 recording. Another witness testified she wrote the word "rapists" in eyeliner on the wall of a Hamptons rental in 2009 after watching two of the brothers drag an intoxicated woman to a hot tub and take turns assaulting her.
In January 2017, when Alon and Oren were nearly 30, trial evidence showed they drugged and sexually assaulted high schoolers in Aspen. In August 2016, Tal, then 30, allegedly assaulted an 18-year-old, though that woman did not testify at trial.
Prosecution Seeks Life; Defence Asks for 15 Years
Prosecutors have asked federal district judge Valerie Caproni to sentence all three men to life in federal prison. Their sentencing memo argues that enhancements apply — including the particular vulnerability of minor victims, the use of drugs to incapacitate women, and the use of physical force and restraint during assaults.
"They were not party boys, playboys, womanizers, or misguided young men. They were predators. They spent years hunting and preying upon women because they wanted to, because they could, and because they kept getting away with it," the government's memo states.
Prosecutors also note the men have expressed no remorse.
Defence lawyers for the brothers are asking the judge for the minimum possible sentence of 15 years — the floor for a conviction on one count of sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion. They deny the men ever drugged or raped any of the women they were sexually involved with, though they conceded in a court filing that some conduct was "at times insensitive."
"They apologize to the women they insulted or offended," their lawyers wrote, adding that virtually every woman who testified had consumed alcohol and that the brothers "deny completely and emphatically" having surreptitiously drugged anyone.
The defence also argued that a longer sentence would be disproportionate compared to the average 15-year term served by people convicted of state murder charges. Marc Agnifilo, who represents Oren Alexander, told the court at a hearing last week: "It was charged as a sex trafficking case and it was tried as a federal rape case."
Defence Cites Family Life and Changed Circumstances
The brothers' legal team further argued that Tal, Alon and Oren — who have since married and had children — are "dedicated husbands and fathers" whose families depend on them. More than three dozen letters from friends, family members and neighbours describing the men's generosity and kindness were submitted to the court.
Lawyers also contended that the alleged conspiracy ended when the brothers married and settled into family life, meaning they no longer pose a risk to the community. Alon Alexander's attorney Howard Srebnick told Judge Caproni the alleged conspiracy concluded when his client "abandoned the 'single-life'" and announced his engagement.
"There are no other accusers out there," Srebnick told the judge.
Several of the women who testified at trial are expected to address the court directly at Tuesday's sentencing hearing.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)