Alexander brothers’ sex trafficking trial nears end as prosecutors rest case

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Federal prosecutors on Tuesday urged jurors to convict the Alexander brothers in a federal sex trafficking trial, arguing that the wealthy siblings used the same alleged playbook of luring, drugging and humiliating multiple women and girls. In closing arguments after four weeks of testimony, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Jones reviewed accounts from 11 women who testified that Alon Alexander, Oren Alexander and Tal Alexander sexually assaulted them, according to the prosecution.

Jones told jurors that the victims’ allegations were corroborated by what he characterized as the “sheer number of victims who testified,” emphasizing that the women “never have met each other” and “have one horrific thing in common: they were raped by these men.” He also argued that, rather than hiding, the brothers documented or discussed the assaults in ways that prosecutors said they did not conceal.

Prosecutors said the brothers bragged about their alleged conduct in blog posts, with titles that included “It’s not rape if,” Jones told the jury. He added that prosecutors presented text messages and emails describing attempts to sneak drugs onto a cruise ship, which he described as “party favors,” as well as video and photos tied to at least one alleged assault.

Jones said the alleged pattern played out across multiple locations, including Hamptons mansions, New York City apartments, an Aspen, Colorado ski trip and a Caribbean cruise. He pointed jurors to testimony describing an alleged rape by Alon Alexander in 2012, hours after the accuser said the two met at actor Zac Efron’s Manhattan apartment; Efron was described by the prosecutor as not accused of wrongdoing.

In one example described by Jones, he said a video played during the trial showed Oren Alexander appearing to rape a drugged 17-year-old in 2009 at a Manhattan apartment shared by the Alexander brothers. Jones told jurors the laptop video was recorded by Oren Alexander and that jurors could see him “adjusting the angle,” describing it as part of the “playbook in action.”

Jones also told jurors about an alleged assault involving a 16-year-old boarding school student who skipped prom to join a group at a Hamptons location. The prosecutor said two of the brothers and two other men raped the teenager and that a photo of the girl “sleeping topless” was found on one of the brothers’ laptop hard drives, with testimony describing the assault ending only after she kicked one of the men away and, afterward, that Tal Alexander told her, “Don’t be mad at me.”

Jones described additional testimony from a United Nations intern who was invited to a Hamptons mansion. He said the intern testified that she saw the brothers dragging someone to a hot tub and assaulting her, and that she screamed, “I work for the U.N. and I know what you’re doing to girls in there,” before scrawling the word “RAPIST” on a message written to accompany that account.

In urging jurors to reject defenses that the prosecution was criminalizing “hookup culture” or that accusers were motivated by shame or money, Jones said “There’s not been an ounce of shame in this courtroom.” He added, “What walked into this courtroom was not shame,” and said it was “courage and resolve” and “the truth.”

After Jones finished, defense counsel Howard Srebnick continued by arguing that prosecutors conflated the brothers’ “obnoxious” and “admittedly inappropriate banter” with grave criminal allegations. Srebnick said Alon Alexander “should be and is embarrassed” by the language he used, but argued that “talk doesn’t constitute a crime,” and said defense closing arguments would continue Wednesday.