Alexander brothers convicted of sex trafficking in case that shocked real estate world

NEW YORK – Three brothers, including two of the country's most successful luxury real estate brokers, were found guilty of sex trafficking Monday after a five-week trial over allegations that they used drugs and forced the rape of dozens of women they had dazzled with their wealth and opulent lifestyle. The verdict came after 11 women testified that they were sexually assaulted by one or more of the brothers: twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 38, and Tal Alexander, 39. The women described attacks that occurred after they were invited to vacation spots, including the Hamptons, a Caribbean cruise and a ski trip in Aspen, Colorado. According to prosecutors, more than 60 women say they were raped by one or more of the brothers. Defense attorneys suggested the accusers had poor memories or hoped to profit from the brothers' fortune. The brothers, their lawyers admitted, were womanizers. But they insisted that any sex was consensual. The jury began deliberating Thursday. Oren and Tal Alexander were brokers for real estate powerhouse Douglas Elliman before founding their own company, Official. Alon Alexander worked for the family's private security company. In addition to the criminal case, the trio faced about two dozen lawsuits, including one filed Thursday by Tracy Tutor, a star of Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles." She alleges that Oren Alexander drugged and assaulted her in a restaurant bathroom while she was in New York City for a real estate event. When those lawsuits began to be filed, several women came forward claiming that they had also been sexually harassed or assaulted, and that the brothers' misconduct with women had been an open secret in the real estate world for years. During the trial, many of the women who testified said they believed they had been drugged after one of the brothers handed them alcohol. Some described feeling like they had lost control of their bodies after less than one drink. The brothers met the women at nightclubs, parties and dating apps, taking some on trips to luxurious locations and paying for luxury flights and accommodation. A woman testified that she met the brothers in 2012 at a party at actor Zac Efron's Manhattan apartment. She said she had almost no interaction with the actor, who was not charged with a crime, and went to a nightclub later that night before waking up naked with a naked Alon Alexander standing over her. Prosecutors rejected the idea that accusers hoped to profit from the lawsuits. Only two have pending lawsuits, prosecutor Elizabeth Espinosa told jurors, and both are wealthy. A woman who testified 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 your money. I just don't want you to have it," he told the jury. Lindsey Acree, an artist and gallery owner in Brooklyn, testified that she was raped by Tal Alexander and a second man at a home in the Hamptons in the summer of 2011 after becoming so disoriented from drinking less than half a glass of wine that she felt paralyzed. The woman, now 40, said she sued Tal Alexander last year even though she "will never need his money" because she was upset that the Alexanders "continued to call us gold diggers, blackmail artists and con artists." "If there is a child with a stick who keeps hitting people, take the stick away," he told the jury. "Money is their stick, so you take it away from them so they can't hurt people anymore." The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Acree and Tutor have done. In addition to witness testimony, prosecutors attempted to prove their case through text and email messages in which the brothers appeared b