NEW YORK (AP) — After a five-week trial, three brothers, including two of the most successful luxury real estate agents in the United States, were found guilty Monday of sex trafficking charges for using drugs and force to rape dozens of women who had been seduced by their wealth and lavish lifestyle.
The verdicts came after 11 women testified they were sexually assaulted by one or more of the brothers, twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 38, and Tal Alexander, 39. All three men shook their heads as the jury foreman said “guilty” 19 times as he read aloud the verdict issues jurors were considering. Tal Alexander lowered his head and crossed his arms in front of him.
Sentencing is set for August 6, at which time the brothers could face life in prison. The remainder remain incarcerated.
The women described attacks after they were invited to vacation destinations including the Hamptons, a Caribbean cruise and a ski trip to Aspen, Colorado. According to prosecutors, more than 60 women said they were raped by one or more brothers.
Defense lawyers said the accuser had a faulty memory or was hoping to cash in on the brothers’ wealth. Their lawyer admitted that the brothers were both womanizers. But they insisted any sex was consensual.
Jurors began deliberating Thursday, worked through Friday and continued into Monday when they sent several notices seeking clarification of the law on both charges.
The brothers’ parents shook their heads when the verdict was announced. Aaron Alexander’s wife covered her face with her hands. Lawyers for the defendants immediately left the courtroom to speak with their clients but were unavailable for comment.
The verdict represents a crushing defeat for Oren Alexander and Tal Alexander, who were agents for real estate mogul Douglas Elliman before starting their own firm, Official. Aaron Alexander works for his family’s private security company.
In addition to the criminal cases, the trio faces about two dozen lawsuits, including one filed Thursday by Tracy Tutor, star of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing LA.” She claims Oren Alexander drugged and assaulted her in a restaurant bathroom while she was attending a real estate event in New York City.
When these lawsuits first started being filed, multiple women came forward claiming that they too had been sexually harassed or assaulted, and that the brothers’ inappropriate behavior toward women had been an open secret in the real estate community for years.
During the trial, many of the women who testified said they believed they were drugged after one of the brothers handed them alcohol. Some people describe feeling like they are losing control of their bodies after having less than a glass of wine.
The brothers met the women at nightclubs, parties and dating apps, taking some on trips to posh locations and paying for flights and luxury accommodation. One woman testified that she met the brothers at a party in actor Zac Efron’s Manhattan apartment in 2012. She said she had little interaction with the actor, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and that later that night she went to a nightclub and woke up naked to find a naked Aaron Alexander standing over her.
Prosecutors disputed the suggestion that the plaintiffs hoped to profit from the lawsuit. Prosecutor Elizabeth Espinoza told jurors that only two people had pending lawsuits and that both were wealthy.
A woman who testified in court said she was raped by Alon Alexander in Aspen, Colorado, in 2017 when she was 17 years old. She said she was the daughter of a billionaire.
“I don’t want their money. I just don’t want them to have it,” she told jurors.
Lindsey Acree, a Brooklyn artist and gallery owner, testified that she was raped by Tal Alexander and another man at a Hamptons home in the summer of 2011 when she had drunk less than half a glass of wine, was delirious and felt paralyzed.
The 40-year-old said she sued Tal Alexander last year even though she “never needed their money” because she was upset the Alexanders “continuously called us money diggers, extortion artists, liars.”
“If there’s a kid with a stick who keeps hitting people, you take his stick away,” she told the jury. “Money is their stick, so you take it away so they can’t hurt other people anymore.”
The Associated Press generally does not publish people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Acree and Tutto did.
In addition to witness testimony, prosecutors have sought to build their case through text messages and emails in which the brothers appeared to brag about their sexual exploits and their knowledge of the depressing effects of various drugs on women, as well as a blog that included a post titled “It’s not rape if…”
Prosecutors said the brothers emailed information about smuggling drugs or “party favors” onto cruise ships, recorded video of at least one attack and shared photos of the victims.
