A federal jury in Manhattan found identical twin brothers, Alon Alexander and Oren Alexander, and their older brother, Tal Alexander, guilty of sex trafficking in March. After the verdict was revealed, the family’s media representative, Juda Engelmayer, explained their plans for an appeal while speaking to investigative journalist Kristin Thorne for Us Weekly’s Uncovered.
The Alexander brothers were at the top of the real estate game in Miami and New York decades ago, and they lived a life of luxury as they sold homes to the rich and famous. They often celebrated their success with parties and would invite women to the events.
Years after the parties took place, 11 women testified that they were sexually assaulted by one or more of the Alexander brothers at the parties in question.
During the trial, the defense argued that none of the women who testified or spoke with prosecutors ever filed a police report or had a medical record related to alleged incidents with the brothers. It wasn’t until one woman filed a civil lawsuit in Miami in March 2024 that other victims came forward with their own allegations, which resulted in the brothers being arrested nine months later in December 2024.
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Now that they have been found guilty of sex trafficking charges, Thorne asked Engelmayer for some of the reasons why the brothers are considering filing an appeal.
He said the judge didn’t allow the brothers’ legal team to present evidence that would have helped their defense.
He pointed to the testimony of Alon’s former girlfriend Daniele Epstein.
Engelmayer said Epstein “wasn’t allowed to testify about a handful of things which would have been pertinent for the jury to hear about where Alon might have been that night and what he might have been doing other than assaulting people. The judge gave a very small window of what she can talk about,” he said.
Engelmayer added that it was “bizarre” that the prosecution didn’t seem to have the same apparent limitations as the defense.
“The judge gave them a wide berth of propensity witnesses, of evidence, evidentiary rulings and the witness testimony and the ability to use certain things, the ability to use documentation, texts, videos and things like that,” Engelmayer said. “And we weren’t able to. The judge kept on denying.”
“And anything that the prosecution wanted … that was damning got put in,” Engelmayer said. “Anything that we wanted that was exculpatory or possibly exculpatory was not allowed.”
A judge may exercise their legal discretion in deciding what is presented to a jury.
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Following the jury’s ruling, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said in a statement: “Federal sex offenses are all too prevalent in our society and all too often go unreported and unpunished. The truth is sex trafficking and other federal sex offenses are present in many walks of life and we have not done enough to root it out. The abuse inflicted upon the victims is disgusting, scarring, and should not be tolerated. Our prosecutors, and our law enforcement partners, are committed to breaking these conspiracies, bringing the perpetrators to justice, and sending a message to anyone who would commit or enable these horrific acts.”
The brothers are scheduled to be sentenced in August, and they are facing life in prison.
