Alexander brothers are convicted of sex trafficking in case that shocked the real estate world

NEW YORK (AP) — Three brothers, including two of the nation’s most successful luxury real estate brokers, were convicted of sex trafficking Monday after a five-week trial over accusations that they drugged and raped scores of women they had dazzled with their wealth and opulent lifestyle.

The verdict came after 11 women testified in Manhattan federal court they were sexually assaulted by one or more of the brothers: twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 38, and Tal Alexander, 39. All three shook their heads as the jury foreperson said “guilty” 19 straight times, a powerful reckoning that could put them behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Tal Alexander dropped his head into his crossed arms. Their stunned parents sat in the gallery behind them. Alon Alexander’s wife shielded her face with her hand and appeared to fight back tears.

Judge Valerie E. Caproni set sentencing for Aug. 6. The brothers, jailed since their 2024 arrests, will appeal the verdict, their lawyers said.

“We believe in our clients' innocence and we're not going to stop fighting until we prevail, and we believe that we will one day prevail," defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said outside the courthouse.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton lauded the verdict as vindication for victims of crimes that often go unreported and unpunished.

“The truth is sex trafficking and other federal sex offenses are present in many walks of life and we have not done enough to root it out,” Clayton said in a statement.

The verdict represented a spectacular fall for Oren and Tal Alexander, once known as real estate’s “A Team” for their high-ticket sales and celebrity clientele. After smashing sales records at industry powerhouse Douglas Elliman, the brothers started their own firm. Alon Alexander ran their family’s private security company.

Victims testified that they met the brothers at nightclubs, parties and on dating apps, and were attacked after accepting their invitations to all-expense paid getaways to the Hamptons; Aspen, Colorado; and a Caribbean cruise. More than 60 women say they were raped by one or more of the brothers, according to prosecutors.

Defense lawyers suggested the accusers had faulty memories or were hoping to cash in on the brothers’ fortunes. The brothers were womanizers, their lawyers conceded. But they insisted any sex was consensual.

In addition to the top charges, Alon and Tal Alexander were also convicted of sex trafficking of a minor while Alon and Oren Alexander were convicted of aggravated sexual abuse by force or intoxicant and sexual abuse of a physically incapacitated person. Oren Alexander was also convicted of sexually exploiting a minor after prosecutors showed the jury a video he recorded of himself appearing to assault a drugged 17-year-old.

Besides the criminal case, the brothers have faced about two dozen lawsuits over the last two years, including one filed last week in which Tracy Tutor, a star of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles," alleges Oren Alexander drugged and assaulted her while she was in New York City for a real estate event.

When the first of the lawsuits were filed, multiple women came forward claiming they had also been assaulted, and that the brothers' misconduct had been an open secret in the real estate world. The government took notice and opened a criminal case.

During the trial, many women who testified said they believed the brothers had spiked their drinks. Some described feeling like they’d lost control of their bodies.

One woman testified that she met the brothers in 2012 at a party at actor Zac Efron’s Manhattan apartment. She said she had almost no interaction with the actor, who was not accused of any misdeeds, and went to a nightclub later in the night before waking up naked with a nude Alon Alexander standing over her.

“I don’t want to have sex with you,” she testified telling him. “Haha, you already did,” she recalled him snapping back as he “laughed in my face.”

Prosecutors pushed back against the idea that the accusers were hoping to cash in on lawsuits. Only two have lawsuits pending, prosecutor Elizabeth Espinosa told jurors, and both are wealthy.

One woman who testified said she was raped by Alon Alexander in Aspen, Colorado, in 2017, when she was 17. She said she was the daughter of a billionaire.

“I don’t want their money. I just don’t want them to have it,” she told jurors.

Lindsey Acree, an artist and gallery owner, testified she was raped by Tal Alexander and another man at a home in the Hamptons in 2011 after taking a drink that left her feeling paralyzed.

The woman said she sued last year even though she will “never need their money” because the Alexanders “kept calling us gold diggers, shake down artists, con artists.”

“If there’s a kid with a stick who keeps hitting people, you take their stick away,” she told the jury. “Money is their stick, so you take it away so they can’t hurt people anymore.”

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Acree and Tutor have done.

In this courtroom sketch, Alon Alexander, second from left, Oren Alexander, center, and Tal Alexander, watch the jury file out of the courtroom after the verdict was read in Manhattan federal court, Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

In this courtroom sketch, from left, Alon Alexander, Oren Alexander, defense attorney Teny Geragos, Tal Alexander, and Marc Agnifilo, listen for the verdict in Manhattan federal court with Judge Valerie Caproni presiding on the bench, Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

FILE - In this courtroom sketch, assistant U.S. Attorney Madison Smyser gestures to Alon Alexander, Oren Alexander and Tal Alexander as she presents her opening statement with Judge Valerie Caproni presiding on the bench in Manhattan federal court in New York, on Jan. 27, 2026. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, File)

FILE - This photo provided by the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department shows Alon Alexander, left, and Oren Alexander, both of whom have been charged with sex trafficking. (Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department via AP, File)

FILE - Oren and Tal Alexander speak at a panel at the Rockstars of Real Estate Event in New York., on Sept. 3, 2013. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Invision for DETAILS Magazine/AP Images, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers a delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs last month despite an economic shock from the Iran war.

Hiring was better than the 65,000 forecasters had expected, though it decelerated from the 185,000 jobs created in March. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%.

The Iran war has caused the biggest disruption of global oil supplies in history and sent average U.S. gasoline prices surging past $4.50 a gallon this week. But the conflict hasn’t done much damage to the American job market so far.

Healthcare added 37,000 jobs last month and retailers 22,000. However, manufacturers cut 2,000 jobs in April and have shed 66,000 jobs over the past year despite President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies aimed at creating factory jobs.

Labor Department revisions shaved 16,000 jobs from February and March payrolls.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% from March and 3.6% from April 2025, consistent with the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target.

Baby Boomer retirements and Trump’s immigration crackdown mean that fewer people are competing for work and that the economy doesn’t need to generate as many jobs as it used to.

Matthew Martin of Oxford Economics says the so-called break-even point — the number of new jobs required each month to keep the unemployment rate from rising — is now near zero. The jobless rate is expected, in fact, to have remained at a low 4.3% in April, according to FactSet.

After the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks Feb. 28, Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes. The disruption has caused a painful increase in the price of energy and led many economists to downgrade their estimates for global and U.S. economic growth.

But the fallout isn’t showing up yet in the U.S. job market.

Payroll processor ADP reported Wednesday that private employers added a solid 109,000 jobs in April. The ADP figure isn't a reliable guide to what the Labor Department will report Friday – but the pace of hiring it showed was the fastest since January 2025. And on Tuesday the Labor Department reported that a measure of gross hiring – before subtracting those who left or lost their jobs – was stronger in March than it had been in more than two years.

The economy is getting a boost from big tax refund checks this spring, arising from Trump’s tax cut legislation last year; the refunds allow consumers to spend more freely, giving companies an incentive to add workers in response to rising sales.

The job market is showing intermittent signs of recovery after a bleak 2025. Employers last year created just 9,700 jobs a month, fewest outside a recession year since 2002. High interest rates and uncertainty over Trump’s economic policies held back hiring.

There's been progress this year, but it's been uneven — strong growth (160,000 new jobs) in January, March (185,000) and April's 115,000 and one bad month (employers cut 156,000 jobs in February).

U.S. hiring, though, has been dominated by one industry: Healthcare companies, catering to an aging American population, have added 456,000 jobs over the past year; other employers have combined to cut 205,000 over the 12 months that ended in April.

The strong hiring data lands as U.S. corporations post solid quarterly performances to start the year.

FILE - Hiring sign for sales professionals is displayed at a store, in Vernon Hills, Ill., Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, file)

FILE - The per-gallon price is displayed elecronically over the grades of gasoline available at a Buc-ee's convenience stop Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Johnstown, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)

FILE - A job seeker waits to talk to a recruiter at a job fair Aug. 28, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File)