Alexander brothers are convicted of intercourse trafficking : NPR

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AP/Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Division. NEW YORK — Three brothers, together with two of the nation's most profitable luxurious actual property brokers, had been convicted of intercourse trafficking Monday after a five-week trial over accusations that they drugged and raped scores of ladies that they had dazzled with their wealth and opulent life-style.

The decision got here after 11 girls testified in Manhattan federal courtroom they had been sexually assaulted by a number of of the brothers: twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 38, and Tal Alexander, 39. All three shook their heads because the jury foreperson stated "responsible" 19 straight occasions, a robust reckoning that would put them behind bars for the remainder of their lives.

Tal Alexander dropped his head into his crossed arms. Their shocked mother and father sat within the gallery behind them. Alon Alexander's spouse shielded her face along with her hand and appeared to battle again tears.

Choose Valerie E. Caproni set sentencing for Aug. 6. The brothers, jailed since their 2024 arrests, will enchantment the decision, their legal professionals stated.

"We consider in our purchasers' innocence and we're not going to cease preventing till we prevail, and we consider that we'll in the future prevail," protection lawyer Marc Agnifilo stated exterior the courthouse.

U.S. Legal professional Jay Clayton lauded the decision as vindication for victims of crimes that usually go unreported and unpunished.

"The reality is intercourse trafficking and different federal intercourse offenses are current in lots of walks of life and we now have not performed sufficient to root it out," Clayton stated in a press release.

Dozens of ladies say they had been drugged and assaulted The decision represented a spectacular fall for Oren and Tal Alexander, as soon as often called actual property's "A Group" for his or her high-ticket gross sales and superstar clientele. After smashing gross sales information at business powerhouse Douglas Elliman, the brothers began their very own agency. Alon Alexander ran their household's non-public safety firm.

Victims testified that they met the brothers at nightclubs, events and on relationship apps, and had been attacked after accepting their invites to all-expense paid getaways to the Hamptons; Aspen, Colorado; and a Caribbean cruise. Greater than 60 girls say they had been raped by a number of of the brothers, in response to prosecutors.

Protection legal professionals recommended the accusers had defective recollections or had been hoping to money in on the brothers' fortunes. The brothers had been womanizers, their legal professionals conceded. However they insisted any intercourse was consensual.

Along with the highest costs, Alon and Tal Alexander had been additionally convicted of intercourse trafficking of a minor whereas Alon and Oren Alexander had been convicted of aggravated sexual abuse by pressure or intoxicant and sexual abuse of a bodily incapacitated individual. Oren Alexander was additionally convicted of sexually exploiting a minor after prosecutors confirmed the jury a video he recorded of himself showing to assault a drugged 17-year-old.

Lawsuits expose an open secret in the true property world Apart from the legal case, the brothers have confronted about two dozen lawsuits over the past two years, together with one filed final week through which Tracy Tutor, a star of Bravo's "Million Greenback Itemizing Los Angeles," alleges Oren Alexander drugged and assaulted her whereas she was in New York Metropolis for an actual property occasion.

When the primary of the lawsuits had been filed, a number of girls got here ahead claiming that they had additionally been assaulted, and that the brothers' misconduct had been an open secret in the true property world. The federal government took discover and opened a legal case.

Through the trial, many ladies who testified stated they believed the brothers had spiked their drinks. Some described feeling like they'd misplaced management of their our bodies.

One girl testified that she met the brothers in 2012 at a celebration at actor Zac Efron's Manhattan residence. She stated she had nearly no interplay with the actor, who was not accused of any misdeeds, and went to a nightclub later within the night time earlier than waking up bare with a nude Alon Alexander standing over her.

"I do not wish to have intercourse with you," she testified telling him. "Haha, you already did," she recalled him snapping again as he "laughed in my face."

Testimony challenges declare that cash drove allegations Prosecutors pushed again in opposition to the concept that the accusers had been hoping to money in on lawsuits. Solely two have lawsuits pending, prosecutor Elizabeth Espinosa instructed jurors, and each are rich.

One girl who testified stated she was raped by Alon Alexander in Aspen, Colorado, in 2017, when she was 17. She stated she was the daughter of a billionaire.

"I do not need their cash. I simply don't need them to have it," she instructed jurors.

Lindsey Acree, an artist and gallery proprietor, testified she was raped by Tal Alexander and one other man at a house within the Hamptons in 2011 after taking a drink that left her feeling paralyzed.

The lady stated she sued final yr although she's going to "by no means want their cash" as a result of the Alexanders "stored calling us gold diggers, shake down artists, con artists."

"If there is a child with a stick who retains hitting individuals, you are taking their stick away," she instructed the jury. "Cash is their stick, so you are taking it away to allow them to't harm individuals anymore."

The Related Press doesn't sometimes establish individuals who say they're victims of sexual assault except they select to come back ahead publicly, as Acree and Tutor have performed.