NEW YORK (AP) — The brothers operated in the glitz and glamour of the Hamptons and South Beach. Two were high-end real estate brokers dubbed “The A Team.” The third went to law school and ran their family’s private security firm, which caters to heads of state and the rich and famous.
They frequented nightclubs, cruised on yachts and flew on private jets. One lived alongside celebrities and corporate titans on Manhattan’s Billionaires’ Row. The others had multimillion-dollar waterfront mansions in Miami.
But behind their posh, peripatetic facade, prosecutors say, Tal, Oren and Alon Alexander — known collectively as the Alexander Brothers — were predators who sexually assaulted, trafficked and raped dozens of women from 2008 to 2021, often after incapacitating them with drugs and sometimes recording their crimes on video.
The brothers met victims at nightclubs, parties and on dating apps, and recruited others for trips to ritzy locales, paying for their flights and lodging at high-end hotels or luxe vacation rentals before drugging and raping them, prosecutors said. In all, dozens of women have accused them of wrongdoing.
Now, the brothers — Tal, 39, and twins Alon and Oren, 38 — face a reckoning that prosecutors say was more than a decade in the making: a sex-trafficking trial that could put them in prison for the rest of their lives.
Opening statements are slated for Tuesday in the brothers’ trial in federal court in Manhattan, after they were delayed a day because of heavy snowfall over the weekend in New York.
Oren and Tal Alexander, the real estate dealers who specialized in high-end properties in Miami, New York and Los Angeles, have pleaded not guilty, along with their brother Alon, who graduated from New York Law School before taking his position with the security firm.
All three have been held without bail since their December 2024 arrests. They were indicted months after several women filed lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct.
A spokesperson for the Alexander Brothers said they “categorically deny that anyone was drugged, assaulted, or coerced, and the government has presented no physical evidence, medical records, contemporaneous complaints, or objective proof to establish those claims.”
“This case highlights a broader concern about how the federal sex-trafficking statute is being applied,” said the spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer. “Congress enacted that law to address force, coercion, and exploitation; not to retroactively criminalize consensual adult relationships through inference or narrative.”
“As the defense has consistently said, allegations are not evidence,” Engelmayer added.
The brothers’ attorneys have promised to show the jury of six men and six women that prosecutors have taken innocent romantic and sexual encounters and converted them into criminal activity through clever lawyering.
Oren Alexander’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, has said the defense plans to prove that witnesses have lied to the government and that their testimony can't be trusted.
Judge Valerie E. Caproni, who will preside over the trial, has rejected defense requests to toss out the charges or send the case to state court. The Alexanders’ lawyers have said the allegations against them resemble “date rape” crimes more commonly prosecuted in state courts, but Caproni disagreed.
“That badly misrepresents the nature of the charges,” the judge wrote.
Agnifilo has said the jury will hear evidence of group sex, threesomes and promiscuity. During jury selection last week, prospective jurors were asked questions related to sexual activity and sex crimes.
“The case is about sex and sexuality,” said Agnifilo, who represented Sean “Diddy” Combs last year as the hip-hop mogul was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges but convicted on lesser prostitution-related counts.
In court papers, the Alexander Brothers’ lawyers wrote that among the accusers they expect to testify at trial, they had located evidence “that undermines nearly every aspect of the alleged victims’ narratives.”
Prosecutors have said their evidence will show that the brothers “have acted with apparent impunity — forcibly raping women whenever they wanted to do so.”
FILE - In this screenshot, Miami Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer is seen via video presiding over the first court appearance of Alon Alexander, who is charged with sexual battery along with his twin brother, Oren Alexander, on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Miami. (Miami Dade Circuit Court via AP, Pool, File)
FILE - Oren and Tal Alexander speak at a panel at the Rockstars of Real Estate Event, Sept. 3, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Invision for DETAILS Magazine/AP Images, File)
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City are among the giants of European soccer preparing for a nervy final round of matches in the opening phase of the Champions League on Wednesday.
All face the prospect of being consigned to the playoffs on a bumper night of 18 matches in Europe's elite club competition.
Only eight teams will advance directly to the round of 16. The next 16 teams face a two-legged playoff to complete the lineup in the knockout phase.
After seven rounds, first-place Arsenal and Bayern Munich in second are the only teams certain of progress.
That sets up a potentially thrilling night of action with just three points separating third-place Madrid and Juventus in 15th.
Eight teams, from PSG in sixth to Atalanta in 13th, are bunched up on 13 points. That raises the prospect of some volatile movement depending on results.
PSG is at home to Newcastle. The French giant is ahead of the English club on goals scored and a loss or a draw could see the defending champion drop out of the top eight.
Hoping to climb into the automatic qualification places are Barcelona and City, both on 13 points.
Barcelona is at home to Copenhagen and 2023 Champions League winner City hosts Galatasaray.
“I prefer to have more (points) but it is what we deserve,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. "We need to focus and try to win our game then see what position we finish.
“We’ll see the result in the last 10 minutes and then we will see (what we have to do). We have to focus on our game, that’s the key.”
PSG and City ended up in the playoffs last season with wildly different outcomes. City missed out on the round of 16 after being eliminated by Madrid, while PSG went on to win the competition for the first time.
“I would sign up for a defeat or a draw (against Newcastle) and be in the top 15 like last season,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said. “If you tell me we’ll be in the top 15 and then win the Champions League outright.”
Chelsea is eighth but there is much more jeopardy on its opponent Napoli.
The Serie A champion is 25th in the standings, one place below the playoffs, and faces the humbling prospect of elimination. With Napoli's ex-Premier League title-winning Chelsea coach Antonio Conte coming up against his former team, this represents one of the most mouth-watering clashes of the night.
“I know (Chelsea) very well. I know their ambitions. They are Club World champions. We have to give it our all,” Conte said. “We cannot underestimate them. We know what it means to play on our home turf. It would be great to see a wave of blue supporting us.”
Two-time Champions League winner Jose Mourinho could be another high-profile coach exiting the competition at the first stage, with Benfica needing to beat his former club Madrid and relying on other results to make the playoffs.
Madrid is third on 15 points and still not certain to finish in the top eight.
Five Premier League teams make up the top eight, with Arsenal leading and Liverpool fourth on 15 points.
Liverpool would expect to qualify directly, given it hosts Azerbaijan's Qarabag on Wednesday. Qarabag, however, has been one of the surprise packages this season and is in the playoff positions.
Tottenham is fifth on 14 points and its performances in Europe have provided a rare source of encouragement for coach Thomas Frank, who is under increasing scrutiny over his team's domestic form.
Spurs travel to already-eliminated Eintracht Frankfurt.
Arsenal should become the first team to complete a perfect opening league phase when it hosts last place Kairat. This is the second season of the new format that replaced the previous group stages.
In the previous format, 13 teams advanced with perfect records but only had to play six games before the knockout phase.
Arsenal will have won eight games if, as expected, it overcomes Kairat.
While a number of top teams face the potential of the playoffs, the automatic qualification spots could still be dominated by Europe's elite if Barcelona and City can force their way in.
The previous format was considered to have grown stale, with not enough jeopardy riding on games.
Arguably Napoli would represent the only major shock if it failed to make the playoffs, which could lead to accusations that the new format still produces predictable outcomes.
However, the fact there are so many uncertainties going into the final round suggests the format is creating ample jeopardy right to the end.
The playoffs draw is at 12:00 CET on Friday.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Barcelona's Dani Olmo reacts after a missed scoring opportunity during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Oviedo in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Villarreal and Real Madrid in Villarreal, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola looks on during a press conference in Manchester, England, Tuesday Jan. 27, 2026, one day ahead of their Champions League soccer match against Galatasaray. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)
