Alexander twins denied bond in Miami on charges related to sex trafficking scheme
MIAMI — Two of the three Alexander brothers appeared in a South Florida courtroom on Thursday, one day after they and their older brother were named in a federal indictment that charged the siblings in a longtime sex trafficking scheme.
Oren and Tal Alexander are prominent luxury real estate brokers in Miami and New York. Alon Alexander runs the family's private security company.
Twin brothers Oren and Alon Alexander, both 37, were ordered to be held without bond by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy Glazer until a hearing on Friday, where their attorney will attempt to free the twins on bail.
Courtroom video showed brothers were seen wearing protective green vests at the hearing. Their parents also made an appearance in the courtroom.
Before, Tal Alexander appeared Wednesday in a Miami federal courtroom on the federal sex trafficking indictment involving him and his younger brothers. He will also have a bail hearing on Friday, with prosecutors seeking pretrial detention and Denaro seeking bail in that venue as well.
"We're making a bail proposal to the state," said Joel Denaro, who represents the twins. "Hopefully, the state is amenable to that."
Meanwhile, state prosecutors argued that both brothers are flight risks and should stay in jail until trial.
During Thursday's hearing, Oren Alexander claimed to the judge that he had a special reason to seek release on bail: His wife is nine months pregnant and "she's counting on me to be with her" during labor because her family lives in Brazil.
"I'm required by law to hold you without bond," judge Glazer replied.
Denaro, who will have a chance to plead for Oren Alexander's release at another hearing, told the judge and prosecutors that he doesn't believe his client is a flight risk.
None of the brothers have yet entered a plea to the charges.
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.
