NY federal judge denies bail for two real estate brokers and their brother in sex trafficking case

NEW YORK (AP) — Two luxury real estate brokers and their brother accused of raping dozens of women over two decades will remain in jail to await their trial on sex trafficking charges, a federal judge in New York City ruled Wednesday. Judge Valerie E. Caproni heard bail arguments before agreeing with two federal magistrate judges in Florida who previously ruled that the three brothers should remain locked up as a danger to the community. The men, who all reside in Miami, were not in Manhattan federal court because they remain jailed in Florida. They have pleaded not guilty. Caproni also found that they were a risk to flee. She cited the strength of the evidence and potential penalties, including a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life if they are convicted. She also noted that the crimes allegedly occurred for two decades and did not result from “a one-time party where things went wrong.” In an indictment unsealed last month and a detention letter, New York prosecutors alleged that Oren Alexander, 37, and Tal Alexander, 38, using their wealth and influence they gained by brokering deals on high-end properties in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles, teamed up with sibling Alon Alexander, 37, to rape and sexually abuse women from at least 2002 to 2021. Several of the victims, a prosecutor said Wednesday, were minors. The indictment accused the brothers of using “deception, fraud and coercion” to entice victims to travel with them or attend parties and events before they were attacked. At other times, prosecutors said in court papers, the men engaged in “opportunistic rapes and sexual assault of numerous victims who they encountered by chance.” In a detention letter, prosecutors said law enforcement agents had spoken to over 40 women who said they were forcibly raped or sexually assaulted by at least one of the brothers and that one or more of the brothers had drugged victims prior to a rape. Each of the brothers had been accused of forcible rape by at least 10 women, prosecutors said. During Wednesday's hearing, multiple lawyers for the men argued that the government's evidence in the case was weak and that the men have not been accused of committing any crimes in the last four years. One lawyer even said that his client had passed a lie detector test that proves his innocence. Attorney Milton L. Williams Jr., representing Tal Alexander but speaking for all of the defendants, said the men were now married with young children and are entrenched in their communities and posed no threat to anyone. He said a $115 million proposed bail package meant that the Alexander family members “are willing to give up basically everything that they have” in the event any of the defendants flee. As he spoke, the parents of the men sat behind him. In their detention letter, prosecutors said a Dec. 11 raid on a New York City apartment leased by Tal Alexander had turned up numerous photographs and videos showing Oren, Alon and several third parties recording or photographing themselves with women in states of intoxication and undress. “There is no evidence demonstrating that the defendants learned the error of their ways. The fact that video versions of trophies of the defendants’ criminal conduct were found in Tal Alexander’s residence as recently as last month also suggests that the defendants have not closed the door on their criminal conduct,” prosecutors said. “Some victims said ‘no’ or ‘stop;’ others screamed,” prosecutors wrote. “But the defendants ignored their victims’ distress. Multiple women described being terrified that the Alexander Brothers were going to hurt or even kill them — these victims’ only goal in that moment became to survive.” Prosecutors say numerous victims will testify at trial “about the horrific sexual violence committed against them” and their testimony will be corroborated by testimony by non-victim witnesses, electronic evidence, physical evidence and documentary evidence. The government said in its submission that the accounts of the victims “strongly corroborate each other” as they recount similar experiences of sexual violence even though they occurred in different settings, states and even different decades. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Jones told the judge that the defendants sometimes threatened the women to remain silent about what had happened after attacking them. He said one of the brothers had told “multiple women he would ruin or destroy them if they made allegations.”