Two former luxury real estate brokers and their brother are scheduled to be sentenced in a New York City courtroom Tuesday, seven months after they were convicted of drugging and raping women in a sex trafficking ring.
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they → schedule → ring
Federal prosecutors are seeking life sentences for Oren and Alon Alexander, a pair of former powerful real estate brokers, and their brother, Tal.
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prosecutors → seek → brokers
Attorneys for the brothers, who have asserted their innocence, are seeking 15-year sentences for each defendant.
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who → assert → defendant
The men were found guilty in March of 10 counts, including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, after a trial that included testimony from 11 women who described being lured, drugged and sexually assaulted over a period of years.
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who → find → years
In a sentencing memo, prosecutors in New York’s Southern District said more than 70 women came forward with allegations of abuse and accused the brothers of exploiting their wealth, influence and connections to target victims.
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women → say → victims
Victim statements from 11 women, some using court-assigned pseudonyms, were read at the hearing prior to the judge’s decision.
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some → use → decision
The women asked the judge to impose a sentence that was appropriate for the profound impact the men had on their lives.
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men → ask → lives
One victim, Maya Miller, described the trauma of her rape by Tal Alexander as having settled into her nervous system.
“I carry a quiet funeral inside me,” Miller said.
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Miller → describe → me
Another victim, Olivia Lane, told the judge that she was “profoundly incapacitated” and after having a fraction of one drink while meeting Oren Alexander.
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she → tell → Alexander
She described being raped at least a dozen times while being terrified and in pain.
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She → describe → pain
She then directly addressed the men.
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She → address → men
“You are weak, you are inhumane,” Lane said.
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Lane → say → ?
“You never had power and look at you now.”
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You → have → you
Two women described the men as having almost inhuman eyes during their assaults.
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women → describe → assaults
Isa Brooks said, “Their eyes went black during the attack like I was being mauled by animals.”
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I → say → animals
Lane said, “I remember looking at him and seeing a monster, black eyes.”
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I → say → monster
The women also emphasized the Alexander brothers’ lack of remorse or acknowledgment of their victims throughout the trial.
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women → emphasize → trial
Victim Katie Moore noted in her statement that after five weeks of trial and being found guilty, the men “cannot even look us in the eye as we speak today.”
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we → note → eye
“These men spent years treating women and girls like their humanity meant nothing,” Moore said.
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Moore → spend → nothing
The brothers honed their methods together, attacking women in a way that was designed to humiliate and degrade them, prosecutor Elizabeth Espinosa said at the sentencing.
“When they were done, they bragged to each other and their friends ...
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they → hone → other
the defendants knew exactly what they were doing and they did it anyway and they did it over and over and over again,” Espinosa said.
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Espinosa → know → it
At trial, prosecutors said the brothers raped the women after having promised them parties and trips.
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brothers → say → parties
One woman testified that she lost control of her body after she had a drink with Alon Alexander at a New York City club.
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she → testify → club
When she awoke, she testified, they were naked on a bed.
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they → awake → bed
She kept trying to get up, and he kept pushing her back down, she said.
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she → keep → her
When she told him that she didn’t want to have sex with him, she testified, he responded, “‘You already did.’”
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You → tell → him
In a sentencing submission, attorneys for the brothers acknowledged that they sometimes behaved insensitively toward women but categorically denied that any of them had raped or sexually assaulted anyone.
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any → acknowledge → anyone
At trial, the attorneys described the sex as consensual and said the women were motivated in part by financial gain.
“All the stories were rehearsed,” Tal Alexander’s attorney, Deanna Paul, said in her closing argument.
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attorney → describe → argument
“They’re looking for money.”
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They → look → money
The Aporia
