Prosecutors seek life sentences for real estate brokers and brother convicted of sex trafficking

Federal prosecutors in New York are seeking life sentences for two former luxury real estate brokers and their brother, who were convicted this year of using their influence to drug and sexually abuse women over several years, according to court documents.

Twins Oren, Alon Alexander and their brother Tal “were convicted of sex crimes of an extraordinary magnitude,” prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday.

“They spent years designing, executing and perfecting their strategy of luring victims with promises of luxury, drugging them so they could not resist, and then forcibly raping them,” prosecutors wrote.

The brothers were convicted on 10 counts of participating in a years-long rape, sex trafficking, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation conspiracy. They pleaded not guilty but were found guilty in April following a trial in which 11 accusers testified.

An accuser testified that Alon Alexander drugged and raped her after a night out at a New York club. She told the court that after she was given something to drink, her “body started to sway”.

She testified that she woke up naked on a bed with Alon Alexander, who was wearing no clothes, standing over her.

“I tried to get out of bed several times, but Alon kept pushing me back,” she said. “Finally he sat on the bed and I was able to get up, and I said, ‘I don’t want to have sex with you,’ and he said, ‘You already have.'”

Oren and Tal Alexander were powerful luxury real estate brokers. Prosecutors said the brothers used their wealth and influence to prey on women and coerce them into sexual acts.

In arguing for a life sentence, prosecutors wrote in their Wednesday filing that more than 70 women came forward with “harrowing accounts of assaults that deprived them of their dignity and autonomy.”

The brothers’ attorneys said in a brief filed Tuesday that the brothers are innocent.

The brothers will each seek a sentence of 15 years in prison, defense attorneys wrote, which is the minimum sentence provided for some of the charges they were convicted of.

Defense attorneys wrote that the three brothers were competitive with each other and others when it came to dating women and that in the years before their indictment, “they behaved in ways that were sometimes insensitive to the feelings of some women.”

“But Alon, Oren and Tal steadfastly maintain their complete innocence of these horrific accusations,” the defense attorneys wrote. “At no time did Alon, Oren or Tal rape or sexually assault another person.”

Sentencing is set for October 27.