Alexander brothers' sex‑trafficking trial opens in Manhattan

Businessinsider reports opening arguments began on January 27 in a Manhattan federal court in the sex‑trafficking trial of brothers Tal, Oren, and Alon Alexander. An accuser using the pseudonym "Katie Moore" testified she was drugged and raped by Alon Alexander in 2012 when she was 20 at the Manhattan apartment he shared with Tal, saying, "I was shocked, and I had no idea how I got there," and that she repeatedly screamed "no" as he continued to assault her.

Assistant US Attorney Madison Reddick Smyser told jurors the brothers "celebrated their crimes," alleging they used "power, wealth, and access to lure women and girls" to upscale locales and sometimes put drugs such as GHB and Xanax into victims' drinks. Smyser also said that after Oren and Alon allegedly assaulted three high school girls in a hotel room, Oren texted a friend that he "took down a 17‑year‑old," and that the brothers texted each other that "the only thing that could bring them down is if some 'hoe' complained." The defense and the US government presented dramatically different portrayals to a six‑man, six‑woman jury that must weigh whether the brothers were serial predators or engaged in consensual sex.