Shocking Alexander Brother Bombshells Exposed in Sex Trafficking Trial
The Alexander Brothers federal sex. crimes trial has officially begun and. the details, the allegations surrounding. these men are stunning. Prosecutors. claim the three engaged in a sex. trafficking conspiracy of drugging and. raping women, but the defense countered. They have said that they may be. womanizers, [music] but they're not. criminals. We're going through some of. the shocking moments so far in this. trial. Welcome to Sidebar, presented. [music] by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. All. right, I know this is a little bit of a.
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a million men worldwide and looking. confident with very minimal effort. Check out Particle at the link below and. use my code side cybar 20 for 20% off. sitewide. All right, so the Alexander. Brothers New York federal criminal trial. has begun. Now, we've talked about them. before here on Sidebar, but these are. the brothers in the real estate and. security markets who, according to. prosecutors, use their wealth, their. status, their resources to essentially. induce women to go on trips with them,
take them out, promise them luxury items. or luxury experiences, and then proceed. to drug and sexually assault and rape. them. We're talking about Alain Orin and. Tal Alexander. Now, they have been. described by prosecutors as quote. partners in crime. They are accused of. being part of a sex trafficking. conspiracy that ran from 2008 to 2021. They have pleaded not guilty to multiple. federal charges. Actually, let me read. you from the latest indictment because. there's always been changes. We have.
conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. They're facing 12 charges, by the way. Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or. coercion. That's with respect to one. victim. Sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. This is a victim two. Inducement to travel to engage in. unlawful sexual activity. Sex. trafficking of a minor. This is a minor. victim three. Sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. Victim four. Count. seven, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. Victim five. Count eight,
sex trafficking by force, fraud, or. coercion. Victim six. Count nine, inducement to travel to engage in. unlawful sexual activity. Victim six, aggravated sexual abuse by force or. threat or intoxicant. Victim seven. Count 11, sexual abuse by physical. incapacitation. That's victim 7. And. then count 12, sexual exploitation of a. minor, minor, victim eight. Again, they. have pleaded not guilty to the charges. And I will tell you, they could face.
life in prison if they're convicted. Okay, this is on top of, by the way, state charges in Florida that apparently. Orin and Alain also face with respect to. allegedly sexually assaulting women. There are also dozens of civil lawsuits. that are mounted against them. So, I. want to go over what has happened so far. in this trial because I will tell you. right now, the allegations against them. are incredibly heinous. And these guys, I can't emphasize this enough, they were. fixtures in the New York and Florida. nightife and societal scene. I remember.
about like 10 years ago, 15 years ago, I. knew their names. Like, people would. talk about them. I never met them, but I. heard about them. I mean, they were. staples. And so, the idea of what they. were accused of doing behind the scenes. is pretty remarkable. So, right now, I. want to talk about what we're seeing in. this federal trial. And for that, let me. bring on my special guest. I'm joined. right now by former Palm Beach County. State Attorney Dave Aaronburgg, who is. in studio with me. Good to see you, sir. Thank you so much. >> Great to be back up here. It's cold up. here. >> It is cold. So, I appreciate you making. the trek. I actually saw you outside.
You're you're not wearing a uh a warm. enough jacket. I hope the audience. knows. >> I'm from Florida. We don't even own. jackets. >> This is true. By the way, before we get. started, if people want to follow your. content, where can they follow you? >> Yes. On Substack at Dave Aaronburgg. I. also go by Florida Law Man. Yep. >> But I'm also on all social medias, but. Substack subscribe. >> Talk to me about these charges that. they're facing. So, 12 different. charges. What some people would say, well, what is sex trafficking? What is. sex trafficking conspiracy? what is this. uh you know the you know sex sexual.
exploitation of a minor um they might. have a familiarity with it with respect. to Diddy but what exactly are we talking. about here and the Alexander brothers. have the same lawyers as Diddy and. >> Tenny Geros Mark Agnifo. >> they were very successful with Diddy and. also they're employing the same defense. as Diddy employed so we'll see how that. goes far as sex trafficking that's the. most serious allegation because that. could get you life in prison that is. commercial sex that is paying someone. not necessarily in dollars. It could be. in drinks and anything in exchange for.
sex. Now, if it's adult sex trafficking, you need force, fraud, or coercion. If. it's [snorts] a minor, you don't need. any of that. >> So, they're saying they were using the. promise of luxury, luxury experiences, travel, accommodations to lure and. entice women to these places where they. were forcibly raped or sexually. assaulted. So in other words, where. there might have been difficulty in the. Diddy case to say that and remember he. was found not guilty of sex trafficking. Would you say this is a more. straightforward definition? Like if I it.
was a law exam, a more straightforward. illegal definition of sex trafficking. and hits the elements here if the. allegations are true. >> I think it's pretty similar to Diddy. I. mean the fact that we look back and see. how Diddy was acquitted of the most. serious charges doesn't take away that. the allegations were just as serious as. the ones against the Alexander brothers. I think the difference for me is that. the Alexander brothers have so many. victims who are ready to go and testify. at trial under pseudonyms but testify. and you have their own words. They have. their own text messages where they gloat.
and that's something you didn't see as. much with Diddy where his own words came. back to haunt him. He was very careful. The Alexander brothers less so. >> Okay. So, I want to give two competing. narratives here that were laid out by. the prosecution and the defense in the. opening statements in this case. And to. be clear, there are no cameras in. federal court. So this is just based on. the reporting, but here you get a sense. of what's happening. Two different. versions. You had prosecutor Madison. Smiser who told the jury of six men and. six women. By the way, split down the. middle. Does that matter to you? >> No. It's just interesting though. Rarely.
do you see a jury six and six. You know, as as a prosecutor, you would naturally. think, well, women would be more. sympathetic to female victims. Not. necessarily. Women can be very tough on. other women in domestic violence, in sex. assault cases, and sometimes you want a. jury of mostly men. >> Okay, that's interesting. That is. interesting. All right, so this is what. the prosecutor said. Quote, "These three. brothers masqueraded as party boys when. really they were predators. The brothers. used whatever means necessary, sometimes. drugs, sometimes alcohol, sometimes.
brute force to carry out their rapes. They physically held victims down that. they would spike drinks with GHB and. Xanax. You'll hear from a woman who Tal. held down while Alain and two others. raped that woman. And I think that's in. reference to somebody who was 16 years. old at the time. They also described how. the juryy's actually going to see a. recording of Orin's alleged rape of a. 17-year-old identified as Amelia, who. was almost incoherent, had no memory of. what happened. Jurors were told that. they're going to read the brother's text.
messages after some of these incidents. quote, "They celebrated raping women and. girls." This is what Smiser said and the. text messages between the brothers will. allegedly show that. And she added. basically how these messages showed what. we talk about all the time, consciousness of guilt. Quote, "The. defendants knew they had to stay out of. a courtroom like this one." And then one. message in particular that has been. highlighted is how they basically said. how the only thing that could hurt them. is, and this is according to an alleged. text messages, quote, "Some ho.
complaining." And it was highlighted how. they came from a wealthy family. They. lived this luxurious lifestyle, but that. their luxurious lifestyle had a dark. side according to Smiser. Now, that's. the prosecution's narrative. Let's start. there. They've outlined what they can. attempt to prove. What stands out to. you? >> We were bring up the Diddy case earlier. One thing in the Diddy case that I think. convinced jurors that you have people. [snorts] in their minds who voluntarily. went to freakoffs knowing this would be. a sex party. That's not the allegations.
here right here. It's that people went. just to a regular party and then they. were allegedly raped by these brothers. who then documented it, have their own. words afterwards where they're gloating. about it and recorded some of it. So. that's where the evidence here I think. is stronger even though both cases. whether it's Diddy or Alexand Alexander. the allegations are both equally. terrible. And and when you look at. charges that weren't in the Diddy case. but are here like obviously the sex. trafficking is theirs but inducement to. travel to engage unlawful sexual. activity or like you said sex.
trafficking of a minor or aggravated. sexual abuse by force or threat or. intoxicant. Are these again more. straightforward charges to prove than. let's say a conspiracy charge? You know. there was an agreement. >> Yes. Yes. Because here look at those. words. Those are broad words. when. you're talking about uh sex trafficking, inducement, enabling, tra transporting, the harboring, all that stuff can get. you under sex trafficking. But here.
you're talking about straight sex, too. I mean, you don't have to say, "Well, he. agreed and then someone else did it as. part of the conspiracy." Here, you're. talking about the brothers allegedly. engaging in the sex act themselves, right? >> So, they can't pawn it off on other. people saying they didn't know about it. >> So, that was the prosecution's. narrative. Here's what the defense says. because you have attorney Tenny Gyaragos. who by the way as we talked about. represented Diddy at his federal. criminal trial too. Mark Ignolo by the. way is also a defense attorney here. But. Geragos who's representing Orin. She. basically characterized the brothers as.
successful but arrogant. That yes they. like women. Yes they wanted to have sex. but highlighted what this case is not. Quote it's not sex trafficking. That's. dating. That's hooking up. And she says. the accusers, they are incredible. because they may be motivated by payouts. and civil suits. Maybe they have a. regret over having these sexual. encounters with the brothers or maybe. regrets over doing drugs. Defense. attorney Deanna Paul, who's representing. another one of the brothers, said it was. crude. It was arrogant. It will make you.
cringe, but we're not here for the. asshole awards. Now, she's representing. Tal Alexander. And she said, "Look, the. boys were womanizers. They slept with. many, many women, but again highlighting. that they're not criminals. Your. thoughts on this? >> The problem they have is that you can't. blame the victims when the victim is. under 18. It's that one victim who's. alleged to be a minor. If that person. was having sex with one of the Alexander. brothers and there was money exchange or.
something of value exchange, that is. human trafficking. You don't need force, fraud, or coercion. And consent is not a. defense. Now, you can say consent for. the adults, and that is going to be the. challenge for pro for defense attorneys. to try to make it believe that these. people who went to a party, not a sex. party, and then went went home with. these folks who apparently were drugged, wanted that. And that is going to be. tough because they're going to testify. those victims in person. Just on note. about that, before jurors had come into. the courtroom, one of the things that.
defense council for Tal Alexander had. had challenged was the uh authenticity. of a foreign birth certificate that was. belonging to a 17-year-old victim. Again, this is somebody who was. allegedly filmed by Orin during a sexual. episode. The defense had made the. argument that this document, which was. apparently issued months after this girl. was born in Europe, it hadn't been. properly authenticated. So, it raised. questions about whether her age at the. time could have been established, whether it was known. And the judge here.
said that she would consider the. arguments and the case law before. issuing a ruling. And I wonder there how. that would complicate the analysis. >> Very interesting. Well, it's not what he. thinks, it's whether she was 18 or not. under federal law unless you had the. there's a very narrow exception. You. didn't have an opportunity to observe. the person. So, but that's not true. here. He spent time with this person. enough to see what she looked like. So. that's not a defense. So now the. question is whether or not she was 18 or. up. Now if there is proof that she was.
18, then that takes it out of the. juvenile sex trafficking and then you'd. have to pro forcef coercion. But if she. was not 18, that's game over for these. guys. I I think that alone can get you. life in prison. >> I want to go to the testimony now. Okay, so we've already heard about testimony. in this courtroom. An accuser who has. used the pseudonym Katie Moore testified. and she testified that she was drugged. and sexually assaulted by Alain. Alexander in 2012 at his home. And this.
was after meeting him at actor Zack. Efron's party in New York City. Now to. be clear, Zack Efron has no affiliation. with this. Has not been accused of any. wrongdoing. It was just that apparently. this whole meeting happened at a party. at his house. Okay. Now, she claims that. that night she took Molly, but at a. nightclub later on after she was handed. a drink, the next thing she knows is she. wakes up naked in a bed with Alain. allegedly standing over her naked as. well. She claims he kept pushing her. down. She said, quote, "I don't want to. have sex with you." And he allegedly.
replied, "Haha, you already did." And. then he laughed in my face. That's what. she claims happened. And then she says, "Not only was she raped, but Tal walks. into the room and does nothing." Now, defense attorney for Alain Alexander, Howard Strebnik, and Alex Khan, a. defense attorney for Tal Alexander, they. cross-examined more. Apparently, she was. cross-examined for hours, and they. focused on the details of the timeline. of events, how much she had to drink, her taking Molly, her conversations with.
civil lawyers, although I don't believe. she actually filed a civil lawsuit as of. yet. You know, the idea here that she. voluntarily voluntarily took drugs, that. everything was consensual. Dave, is this. a complicated case? This complicated. testimony? >> Well, they're gonna put her through the. ringer. And by the way, Howard. Strebnick, excellent lawyer, his younger. brother, Scott, who's law partner, was. my camp counselor many years ago. How do. you like that? >> Wow. Small legal world. >> Well, South Florida. Yeah. Yes. It's not. that big of a legal community. But when. it comes to these allegations, they're.
serious allegations. And the one defense. would be consent. So, you'd have to show. that not only did she agree to have sex. with the brothers, but also that the. drugging of her did not happen, that she. voluntarily took whether it's MDMA, Molly, or whatever came afterwards. And. that's where toxicology is important. But if unless you report it right away, that stuff can get through your system. and then you can't prove which is the. substance you were on that day. >> Let me be clear. I I covered the Harvey. Weinstein trial. I was in that. courtroom. You can have a conviction.
purely based on the testimony of an. accuser alone. You don't necessarily. need forensics, you don't need DNA, you. don't need um surveillance footage, you. don't need text messages, but obviously. all that helps. And those were cases, by. the way, where he was accused of sex. crimes from years in the past. Here, if. you're talking about alleged crimes from. so many years ago, and you have. potentially a question of why did they. only come forward in the last several. years to speak with authorities? Did. they not tell people immediately? >> Um, there's two ways to look at that,
right? One could say there's very. complicated factors about why alleged. sexual assault victims don't come. forward, why they don't speak about it. But also, if you're dealing with. somebody who's high status and high. powered, and I think there was even. testimony from one of the accusers that. she may have read that the brothers had. faced allegations in the past but beat. them. So, she might have felt like, how. am I going to come forward? But at the. same time, the defense is saying, isn't. it interesting you're only coming. forward now? Do you have an incentive? How does a jury weigh that? The jury has. to just weigh that and have difficulty. because you have the question of whether.
delayed reporting is something that. shows that it didn't happen or delayed. reporting could be because of the things. you said, intimidation. It could be that. they had repressed trauma, memories, but. just because they didn't report it. didn't mean it didn't happen. And just. because they may have gone to another. party with them or remained friends with. the brothers doesn't mean it didn't. happen. You can still be prosecuted and. convicted as Harvey Weinstein was for a. sex act that was non-consensual even if. there were later acts that were.
consensual. Now, every defendant has a. right to, you know, thorough defense. They're innocent until proven guilty. Having said that, cross-examining these. alleged victims is tricky, right? It's a. sensitive game to be playing here. And. I'm not in that courtroom. I don't know. what the tone of it was. But does it. matter how long defense attorneys. cross-examine these alleged uh victims? these accusers. >> Well, it's the substance, not the. quantity, okay? Not the length of the. cross-examination. In fact, if you go on. too long, the jury may think you're.
badgering this victim, >> but they could also say you're falsely. accusing an innocent man. >> Well, yes, but is everyone falsely. accusing them? That's the thing. >> Strengthen numbers, >> and that's where the strength number. matters. They're going to have multiple. people on this end. Did he benefited by. the fact that there was one witness who. refused to show up, one victim, alleged. victim and then you had the people who. did show up, except for Cassie, were not. as strong on the stand and you didn't. have as many people as you have here. That's why I think the weight of this.
evidence is stronger than the Diddy. case. And. >> and you believe maybe that video of an. alleged assault or the text messages, if. the jury believes what they're seeing. there, that may corroborate the. testimony of every single accuser. >> The jurors are going to hate these. brothers. These are. noxious, wealthy brothers who were. big-time players. And that's where the. lawyer tried to get out in front of it. The defense lawyer said, >> "It's not an a-hole party or right." And. and that's why she used that word. actually because it's one thing to say,
you know, you're not determining whether. they're jerks. No, it's another thing. when you curse because it it lets the. jurors know, hey, these guys are are not. good guys, but that is not a crime to be. bad guys. What's a crime is rape, is. drugging people. underage rape. especially. You don't need force f or. coercion there. So the lawyers are great. lawyers. They're doing their jobs, but. the facts are what they are. >> We also heard the testimony of a second. woman uh using the pseudonym Maya. Miller. So she claims she was raped by. Tal during a 2014 trip to the Hamptons.
She claims she started to think that. something was off with him. So she. actually, this is what she testified to, used suitcases to block the door so Tal. couldn't come in. But then she claims. despite that that she was assaulted by. him in a bathroom, I believe in the. shower. And maybe in a way to get in. front of it, it was presented that after. this alleged assault, she I guess this. is what the prosecutor is saying, she. tried to downplay what happened in a way. by liking an Instagram post of Tal's. congratulating him about something. She. only came forward to the FBI in 2024.
She didn't file a civil lawsuit as of. yet, though. But the cross by the. defense, they focused on the fact that. her friend, who was with her, apparently. is going to be called as a defense. witness, was maybe in the bathroom. during the assault, but was blowd drying. her hair, so didn't really know what was. going on. And also, the defense focused. on the fact that this alleged victim. apparently didn't tell her friend what. happened. And she was questioned about. why she allegedly called and texted Tal. afterwards and that she went out on the. town and didn't seem to be too upset.
about what happened. Although again this. can be very very complicated. And they. also presented photographs and messages. to challenge her credibility to question. the timeline. They even said they look. at her eyes in one of the pictures that. she took at the Plaza Hotel in New York. after this alleged assault. They said. she looked happy. Um what are your. thoughts on that? >> It's all relevant evidence. These are. good defense lawyers and this is what. happens when you're prosecuting these. types of cases. You're going to see your. victims run through the ringer. It's why. a lot of victims don't speak up. That's.
why a lot of them they say, you know, it's not worth it because then you. question their attitudes, whether. they're lying, their sexual past, even. though you're not supposed. There's rape. shield laws which you can't go into. someone's clothing at the time or and. it's very restricted about going into. someone's past, but this type of stuff. can creep in and it makes the victim. very uncomfortable to to go through it. and to be put on the stand for many. hours. And so that's why you see these. are underreported crimes. Also, if there. is seen to be a profit motive, like if.
they're filing civil lawsuits, that is a. problem, too. Prosecutors hate when. civil lawyers get involved, they say, "Wait until after the case is over. because that could be used to impeach. your credibility.". >> And and the government also called a. separate witness who testified that Maya. Miller. >> disclosed this alleged assault years. back in 2020. So, not 2024, 2020. That. could be relevant. >> Absolutely. Yeah. what she said at the. time is more important than what she. said years later. Even though years. later can come in too. You just want any.
form of corroboration more than just a. he said she said. How much do you think. the text messages are going to tell the. story? Because there was apparently a. message that was displayed where it said. these cheap hookers coming to the. Hamptons that weekend that Tal allegedly. wrote and forwarded Miller's flight. confirmation details. This is again. according to an email that was seen by. the juror. emails, text messages, how. much is that going to help the case? >> This is why I say the jurors are going. to hate these defendants because these. text messages at the very least show.
them to be jerks, CADs, you know, people. who just talk smack after being with. women. And the women on the jury, that's. they're going to hate these guys. And I. think that that could poison the juror's. minds. Even if they have some doubts in. their mind about whether rape occurred, I think they may not give them the. benefit of doubt because they're going. to hate them for the fact that they. bragged about these sexual conquests. They really don't seem like people you'd. want to invite over for Thanksgiving. >> How problematic is it for the brothers. that they're all tried together? Now, some charges, right, apply to some, some.
apply to others, some to all. How does. it affect it that they're all tried. together? >> You know, I think it's better for the. defense if they could have split them. up. If they No, if they could have split. them up. Oh, if they split them up. >> because then they could point the finger. at each other. But now they're all gonna. be tred by themselves. They're three. brothers and one brother's conduct is. going to be imputed to the others and. it's much harder than to say, "No, it. was my brother who did that that they. mistook because a couple of them are. twins. They mistook me for my brother, but now they're all being tried. together." That's a win for the. prosecution. >> You think the brothers should take the.
stand? >> No. I think there's so much dirt on them. that if they did, I think they'd be. eviscerated. I've seen folks like this. take the stand where they think they're. smarter than everyone else. They're. arrogant and these guys are clearly. arrogant and they think they can put one. over on the jurors. Charlie Adlesen, for. example, these guys are like Charlie. Adlesen. How well did he do on the. stand? Jurors can see right through it. and a good prosecutor can just light. them on fire. >> All right. Well, I think this trial is. expected to last about a month. So, we'll keep a very careful eye and we've. been following it for quite some time. Dave Aronberg, thanks for coming on.
Really appreciate it. >> Thank you, Jesse. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. We're also up on NBC's. Peacock. We have sidebar episodes there. as well. If you want to follow me, you. can check me out on Instagram or X. Also, my NewsNation show, Jesse Weber. Live, Monday through Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. [music] I'll catch you next. time, everybody. Thanks so much.
