Alexander brothers each get 30 years for sex trafficking in US

NEW YORK - The Alexander brothers, two of whom were once among United States’ top luxury real estate brokers, were each given 30 years in prison for using their wealth and glamorous lifestyles to traffic women for sex.Oren and Tal Alexander as well as their non-broker brother Alon were sentenced on Oct 27 by US District Judge Valerie Caproni. The three were convicted in March of sex-trafficking and other charges after a five-week trial at which a number of their victims testified.“Your conduct was monstrous,” Caproni told the brothers.Tal, 40, and Oren and Alon, both 39, maintained grim expressions during the sentencing but otherwise had little reaction. The prison terms, while lengthy, were less than the life behind bars sought by prosecutors. Lawyers for the brothers told the judge they would appeal.The prosecution was one of the highest-profile sex-trafficking cases to go to trial in recent years. Oren and Tal were brokers on some of the most expensive residential property sales ever in New York and Miami, claiming US$8 billion (S$10.2 billion) in sales and dubbing themselves the “0.1% of brokers that really sell to the 0.1% of clients”.At trial, several women testified that they were drugged and raped after being lured to parties, music festivals and other events in glamorous locations like the Hamptons and Aspen, Colorado.In requesting life sentences, prosecutors said the Alexanders “spent years designing, executing, and perfecting their playbook of luring victims with promises of luxury, drugging victims so they could not resist, and then forcibly raping them”.Before sentencing the brothers, Caproni allowed 12 victims to speak. Many of them directly addressed the brothers, who showed no visible reaction during the statements. One woman said that their “wealth, power and social standing cannot shield them from the consequences of their actions”.Lawyers for the brothers had asked they be given no more than 15 years behind bars. They claimed all the encounters were consensual and accused the government of trying to criminalise the behaviour of successful young men trying to enjoy their lives as bachelors.The Alexanders also addressed the court. They maintained their innocence and characterised their actions as youthful partying and womanising that often involved recreational drug use and excessive drinking. Tal described himself as having a “work hard, play hard mentality”. “I sometimes behaved in ways I’m not proud of,” he told the judge.Caproni suggested the brothers might have been better off remaining silent.“You didn’t have to say anything this afternoon. You did not have to stand up and say you never drugged or raped a woman,” she said. “In my view, that’s entirely a lie.”But the judge also said that she regarded sentencing them to life in prison as a “draconian penalty” and that she didn’t believe the brothers were “beyond redemption”.In a statement, Manhattan US Attorney Jamie McDonald, whose office prosecuted the case, said: “Today’s sentence makes clear that this craven, sinister conduct is extraordinarily serious and will be met with serious punishment.” BLOOMBERG