Three brothers - two of them wealthy real-estate moguls - were sentenced to 30 years each in prison for drugging and raping dozens of women over the course of decades. Tal Alexander, 40, and twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 39, were found guilty in March of using their wealth and social status to lure women to parties and luxury homes, where they sexually assaulted them. "Your conduct was monstrous," said Judge Valerie Caproni before sentencing them.
"Your crimes wreaked havoc on their lives." On Tuesday morning, the court in New York heard from 12 victims, including one who did not testify during the trial. One by one, they spoke of the psychological trauma they endured after the Alexander brothers raped them, and their desire for the shame they had felt to instead fall on the defendants. Many asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence of life in prison for each brother.
Maya Miller told the court that after Tal Alexander raped her in 2014, she lost all sense of safety. "I carry a quiet funeral within me for the person I might've become if this never happened to me," she said. Another victim, using the pseudoym Isa Brooks, said after being raped by Tal and Alon Alexander when she was 16, she lost the ability to trust herself.
"I had no idea the danger I was in til it was too late," she said. Another woman said when she planned to come forward about being raped, Tal Alexander threatened her, saying he knew where her sister worked. Prosecutor Elizabeth Espinosa said the brothers deserved the maximum punishment for their crimes, saying facts "paint a truly devastating picture".
"For years, they honed their methods of luring women with the promise of luxury," she said, adding that they were "completely unmoved by the path of suffering they left behind them." During the women's speeches, the three Alexander brothers showed little emotion. They stared ahead or conferred with their lawyers, who said they advised their clients not to look at the victims so it wasn't misconstrued. Attorneys for the brothers pushed for sentences of 15 years, arguing that they had become devoted fathers whose families would suffer in their absence.
The three men all addressed the court, continuing to profess their innocence. "We had a work-hard, play-hard mentality," Tal Alexander said, adding he saw how his behavior "hurt people's feelings". But their statements did not assuage Caproni, who chastised them for refusing to admit their crimes.
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