Alexander brothers plead not guilty in NY sex trafficking case. Prosecutors may add charges
READ MORE
The legal troubles of the Alexander brothers
The Alexander brothers have been accused in civil, state and federal cases of systematically raping and sex trafficking women in Florida, New York, Colorado, Mexico and Russia. Federal prosecutors say that more than 60 women, including a minor, have come forward. In December, the brothers were arrested in Miami by federal and local authorities, and are currently awaiting trial in Brooklyn’s federal detention center. All three brothers pleaded not guilty and their attorneys have denied the allegations.
Expand All
Three Miami Beach brothers whose high-flying lives were upended with their arrests on sex trafficking charges pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan on Friday.
Twins Alon and Oren Alexander, 37, and Tal, 38, had their arraignment almost two months after their arrests on Dec. 11 because of protracted detention hearings in Miami and their transfers to federal custody in New York in late January.
READ MORE: Miami brothers, real estate stars, arrested by FBI. Accused of raping, drugging women
20 more victims come forward: Prosecutors
Prosecutors said they plan to file a superseding indictment with more charges against Oren and Tal, once-celebrated New York luxury real estate brokers, and Alon, who worked in the Alexander family’s security business in the Miami area. They said FBI agents have now interviewed about 60 women who say they were sexually assaulted by the brothers — an increase of about 20 alleged victims coming forward since their arrests.
READ MORE: FBI agent testified that 40 women accusing Alexander brothers of rape are ‘credible’
U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni set a tentative trial date for early January of next year in the Southern District of New York.
With their initial New York court appearance and arraignment over, prosecutors will begin turning over voluminous evidence to the defense in the high-profile case, which accuses the brothers of luring dozens of women to residences, hotels and parties and then giving them drug-laced alcoholic drinks before sexually assaulting them in New York, Miami Beach and elsewhere.
Could face life in prison
All three brothers, being held in a Brooklyn detention center before trial, are charged with a sex-trafficking conspiracy count spanning 2010 and 2021 and one additional count of sex-trafficking a woman in September 2016 using fraud, force or coercion. Tal Alexander, by himself, is charged with one additional count of sex-trafficking a woman in July 2011. If convicted, each faces up to life in prison, with a mandatory-minimum sentence of 15 years.
After Friday’s arraignment, Oren Alexander’s defense attorney, Richard Klugh, issued a statement, saying his client “pleaded not guilty today because he is innocent, as a polygraph examination has already revealed.”
“The government continues to make hyperbolic statements in court regarding the number of accusers, and the government’s misguided efforts to solicit witnesses—to prop up a baseless and publicity-driven case—have yielded no credible evidence of any crime,” Klugh said.
Oren’s twin, Alon, is represented by Miami lawyer Howard Srebnick and their older brother, Tal, by New York City attorney Milton L. Williams Jr. It is possible that Oren and Alon will be adding New York lawyers to their defense.
‘They are facing very serious charges’: Judge
Before they were transferred to New York City last month, Judge Caproni ordered the detention of the three wealthy brothers from Miami Beach before trial. She reached her decision on Jan. 15 after a three-hour hearing in Manhattan federal court. In denying bonds, the judge found the brothers posed a danger to the community and a risk of flight if they were released on bail proposals in excess of $100 million each.
“They are facing very serious charges,” Caproni said. “This will be a horrible trial for their family to sit through.”
During the hearing, Alon and Tal appealed a pair of Miami judges’ orders denying bonds while Oren faced his initial bail review. Lawyers for all three argued that the brothers were neither dangerous nor flight risks, saying their parents were willing to pledge the family’s high-priced real estate assets in Bal Halbour, Miami Beach, the Bahamas and Tel Aviv to secure their bail while each brother stayed in different Miami high-rise apartments guarded by private security around the clock.
The parents, Shlomo and Orly Alexander, were in the New York courtroom.
But Caproni said their bond proposals amounted to the Alexander family setting up a “private jail,” an option not available to indigent defendants accused of similar serious crimes.
The brothers’ prospects of obtaining bonds — and their freedom — before trial were expected to be remote given that the same U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York prevailed in blocking bail for other defendants accused of sex trafficking, from the late Manhattan financier Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide while in detention in 2019, to rap mogul Diddy, who is awaiting trial behind bars.
Read More: Months after dramatic raid, Diddy indicted in connection to sex trafficking probe
Oren’s polygraph exam
Last month, Oren’s defense team took the unusual step of offering as evidence a polygraph examination administered by a former FBI agent. James Orr, the retired Tampa-based agent, concluded Oren was truthful when the defendant answered “no” to the following four questions:
1. Did you have sex with [victim-2] when you knew she had been covertly given drugs? 2. In New York, did you have sex with [victim-2] when you knew she had been covertly given drugs? 3. Did you have any kind of sex with [victim-2] when you knew she had secretly been given drugs? 4. In New York, did you have any kind of sex with [victim-2] when you knew she had secretly been given drugs?
In his examination, Orr found that Oren displayed “no significant reactions indicative of deception” in answering the questions.
His twin brother, Alon, was also asked by the former FBI agent in a polygraph exam whether he had sex in New York, Florida or elsewhere with “any woman when you knew she had been covertly given drugs.” Alon answered no.
Again, the ex-agent found his responses truthful.
‘Horrific sexual violence’ by brothers: feds
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York filed a hard-hitting court document, saying that “each defendant has separately been accused of forcible rape by at least ten women.”
Prosecutors restated allegations that “over 40 women” have reported to the FBI that they were “forcibly raped or sexually assaulted by at least one of the Alexander brothers” between 2002 and 2021.
“At trial, numerous victims ... are expected to testify about the horrific sexual violence committed against them by the Alexander Brothers,” prosecutors Kaiya Arroyo, Elizabeth Espinosa and Andrew Jones wrote in a letter to Judge Caproni. Their testimony “will be corroborated” by non-victim witnesses along with electronic, physical and documentary evidence.
“Moreover, the victims’ accounts strongly corroborate each other, recounting similar experiences of sexual violence from the Alexander Brothers despite occurring in different settings, states, and even different decades,” the prosecutors wrote to the judge.
Sex videos found in Tal’s NY apartment
In pushing for no bonds for the brothers before trial, prosecutors revealed that FBI agents executed a search warrant on Tal’s Manhattan apartment that he previously shared with his brother, Oren, on the date of the three brothers’ arrests at their Miami Beach homes, Dec. 11.
Agents found a hard drive with photos and videos showing twin brothers Oren and Alon with other men recording images of “themselves with women in states of intoxication and undress.”
“In multiple videos, the women appear initially unaware that they were being recorded and became upset and attempted to hide or flee from the camera after realizing they were being filmed,” the prosecutors wrote to the judge.
“Multiple other videos found in Tal Alexander’s apartment depict Alon, Oren, and other men engaged in sexual contact with women who are visibly under the influence of alcohol or other substances,” their letter continues. “In some instances, at least one defendant [Alon or Oren] and another man physically manipulated the women’s bodies in order to have sex with them while the women did not actively participate in the sexual activity or turned away.”
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 2:55 PM.
