Attorneys for the multimillionaire Alexander brothers accused of a yearslong sex trafficking conspiracy failed to secure their release at a court hearing Wednesday — offering a staggering bond package a judge said was like trying to “buy a private jail.”
Manhattan federal court Judge Valerie Caproni found the men posed a substantial danger to the community and flight risk. She said their request for “in essence, a private prison outside the control of the Bureau of Prisons,” was not an option and that the weight of the evidence against them was strong.
The wealthy siblings — Tal, Oren and Alon Alexander — are charged in Manhattan federal court with repeatedly and violently raping dozens of women, including during gang rape sessions, for more than a decade who they trafficked to luxury destinations. They are at a federal jail facility in Miami and are expected to be soon transferred to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, which their lawyers said their parents were worried about.
“To the parents I can only say, the MDC, look, it’s a jail,” the judge said. “The horror stories from a year ago, it’s not the same facility. They’re doing the best they can.”
At the hearing that ran over two hours, lawyers for the three men told Caproni they would pay for around-the-clock security to guard them at a high rise in Miami “with one door in and one door out,” put down any amount of cash as a bond, and floated their parents, Shlomo and Orly Alexander would sell off their properties in Tel Aviv, Israel to eliminate any concern they would abscond.
“We’ll do anything we can to give the court comfort that the boys are not going to flee,” said Richard KLugh, a lawyer for Oren. “Their parents will lose everything if they so much as spit on the sidewalk and break another law.”
Deanna Paul, a lawyer for Tal, said the government’s allegations were “nothing more than speculation” and cast doubt on the credibility of the three victims involved in related civil cases.
At one point in the hearing, Alon’s lawyer, Howard Srebnick said women had a financial incentive to levy criminal allegations because the government may seek restitution.
“I have to say, this argument is beneath you,” Caproni said.
In court papers ahead of the hearing, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office said federal law enforcement agents had spoken to at least 40 women who allege being raped and abused by the brothers — at least 10 women per brother — between 2002 and 2021.
They said on Dec. 11, the day charges were unsealed, agents executed a warrant at Tal’s New York City apartment and found a hard drive with photos and videos showing Oren, Alon, and several others documenting themselves with women “in states of intoxication and undress.”
In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Jones said the brothers’ risk of flight was immense given the severity of the charges carrying 15 years to life in prison. Speaking to the potential danger they pose to the community, he alleged all men had sought to weaponize the justice system in threats to their victims and that Oren had told multiple women he would “ruin them or destroy them” if they ever spoke out, and held down one woman and masturbated over her when she confronted him about the abuse.
Jones said the alleged victims didn’t know each other and that there was no evidence they had coordinated with one another. He said the brothers used the same playbook each time — starting by targeting women they found online or through club promoters, luring them to luxury locations like the Hamptons and Tulum, Mexico, and then giving them drinks that made it so they “can’t control their limbs, have a hard time speaking.”
“And that is when the defendants isolated them,” the prosecutor said.
Each brother faces one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and one count of sex trafficking tied to an unnamed woman. Tal is additionally charged with a second count of sex trafficking involving a different woman. They’re all expected to plead not guilty when they’re ultimately arraigned. The twins also face sexual battery charges on the state level in Miami.
The crimes charged cover a decade, but prosecutors say they have evidence showing the brothers began their abuse in high school more than 20 years ago. The brothers have also been accused of rape and sexual assault in several lawsuits.
Tal and Oren Alexander, from the firm Official Partners are hotshot real estate agents who started at the firm Douglas Elliman and have built a prolific reputation in the industry for selling some of the priciest properties in the world, including a nearly $240 million penthouse on Manhattan’s Billionaires’ Row in 2019. Alon, Oren’s twin, is an executive of a family-owned private security firm, Kent Security. Alon and Oren are 37, and Tal is 38.
