NEW YORK — A woman who testified against Alon Alexander told jurors she “tried to get out of the bed a few times, but Alon kept pushing me back down.” A jury later convicted him and his two brothers, and on Wednesday the government asked a judge to make sure none of them goes free.
Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York want life sentences for Alon, his twin Oren and their brother Tal, the former luxury real estate brokers convicted of sexually abusing women. Their sentencing memorandum, filed Wednesday, says the brothers “have been convicted of sex crimes of extraordinary magnitude.” Sentencing is set for Oct. 27.
The defense is asking for 15 years each, which its lawyers describe as the minimum under some of the counts. The distance between those two numbers is now the judge’s to close. The defense filing, submitted Tuesday, says all three men are innocent.
A jury found the brothers guilty on all charges in March, including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, Fox News reported. Eleven women testified. Prosecutors say more than 70 came forward. In closing arguments, prosecutor Andrew Jones told jurors the brothers “used a consistent playbook to lure, isolate and rape their victims.”
The new filing returns to the same word. The brothers spent years “designing, executing, and perfecting their playbook of luring victims with promises of luxury,” prosecutors wrote, according to NBC News. The jury convicted them, NBC reported, of using their influence and drugs to sexually abuse women over several years.
The defense answer is just as consistent. “Alon, Oren and Tal steadfastly maintain their complete innocence of these awful charges,” their lawyers wrote. “At no time did Alon, Oren or Tal rape or sexually assault another person.” The filing concedes only that the brothers were competitive about dating and had at times been “insensitive” toward certain women.
That leaves the contrast the sentencing will have to settle. The defense’s own word for how the brothers treated some women is “insensitive.” The jury’s word was trafficking.
