Miami judge sets million-dollar bonds for Alexander twins in sex crimes case
MIAMI - Two of the three Alexander brothers named in a federal indictment that charged the siblings in a longtime sex trafficking scheme were granted bond during a pretrial release hearing in a Miami courtroom on Friday.
Oren and Tal Alexander are prominent luxury real estate brokers in Miami and New York. Alon Alexander runs the family's private security company. Oren and Alon Alexander, both 37, are twins.
During Friday's hearing, the prosecutor first outlined the conditions of release for Alon Alexander.
They included a $2 million personal surety secured against his father's home, a $25,000 corporate surety bond. He will be confined to house arrest with a GPS monitor and he has to stay away from his alleged victims. As for being a flight risk, the prosecutor pointed out that his passport had been seized by federal authorities.
"The court has to ratify it, I will ratify it, I am satisfied that these are reasonable conditions that you all have fashioned," said Miami-Dade Judge Lody Jean.
As for Oren, he will provide a personal surety of $3 million secured by his father's home, a corporate surety $25,000 bond. He will also be on house arrest with GPS monitoring and must stay away from his alleged victims.
The judge said she could sign off on the terms for both on Monday when the twins' attorney provides a guarantee that the funds for surety are there. The conditional release only applies to the Florida charges, there is still a federal hold in place.
"We're grateful and we're pleased that the court signed the order granting pre-trial release for the boys. They're innocent. I don't have anything further at this time," Denaro said after the hearing.
Older brother Tal Alexander, 38, also had a bail hearing Friday in Miami federal court and was granted no bond. The Alexander brothers' attorney Joel Denaro also said he was seeking bail in that venue.
On Thursday, twin brothers Oren and Alon Alexander had been ordered to be held without bond by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy Glazer until their detention hearing on Friday.
Who are the Alexander brothers?
Tal, Oren and Alon Alexander were indicted on federal sex trafficking charges in New York.
Officials from the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced the charges during a Wednesday afternoon news conference. Authorities have accused the brothers of running a sex trafficking scheme and allegedly assaulting dozens of women between 2010 and 2021, dating back to when the men were in high school in some of those cases.
Oren and Tal Alexander are the founders of the luxury real estate firm Official, which has offices in Manhattan and Miami Beach. Alon, Oren's twin, worked at the family's private security firm, authorities said.
Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the brothers arranged domestic and international trips where they carried out the alleged crimes and recruited women by providing things like travel, luxury accommodations and access to exclusive events. He said they met their alleged victims in person, over social media and on dating apps.
The brothers and other men would then give the women drugs, including cocaine, mushrooms and GHB, which allegedly "caused some of the women to be physically unable to fight back or to escape," Williams said. He added the brothers also carried out other alleged attacks "by chance," at bars, clubs and social events.
The brothers were arrested in Miami Beach and face separate state felony charges along with their cousin, Ohad Fisherman, who has not yet been arrested. The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office and Miami Beach Police held a joint conference on Wednesday on the multistate investigation.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle discussed three separate incidents with three different victims that occurred in December 2016, October 2017 and October 2021.
In the first incident, a victim said Alon Alexander invited her to attend a barbecue at his Miami Beach apartment along with Oren Alexander and Fisherman. The victim said she was raped by the twin brothers, who were "arguing about who was going to rape her first," Rundle said.
In the second incident, Oren Alexander invited another victim to his apartment, gave her a glass of wine and directed her toward the bedroom. At this moment, the victim said that she began to feel like "she was no longer in control of her own body" and that Oren Alexander raped her while she felt she couldn't move or speak, Rundle said.
Rundle said in the third incident, Oren Alexander raped another victim after inviting her and several friends to his house.
Williams said the brothers are expected to be taken to New York to face the sex trafficking charges.