Second Circuit hesitant to grant bail to sex trafficking-accused Alexander brothers

MANHATTAN (CN) — Oren, Alon and Tal Alexander made another push for bail on Tuesday as they await trial on federal sex trafficking charges, this time making their pleas to the Second Circuit after a federal district judge denied their bid for home confinement earlier this year.

The three brothers were charged at the end of 2024 with sexually assaulting dozens of women by using their wealth and status to lure and drug victims at their properties.

Prior to their arrests, Oren and Tal Alexander were two of the most prominent real estate agents for luxury properties in New York and Miami. Alon Alexander was a well-known socialite who ran in the same circles.

The brothers previously made a push to stay out of prison ahead of their trial by offering to fund round-the-clock private security to monitor their home confinement. But U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni, a Barack Obama appointee, deemed them a risk of flight and denied their proposal.

On Tuesday, the brothers’ attorneys lambasted Caproni’s ruling, telling a trio of circuit judges that their clients were well aware of the federal probes prior to their arrests yet didn’t flee.

But Second Circuit judges were immediately skeptical of the attorneys’ claims that Caproni mistakenly ruled the brothers could present a danger to the community.

“The bail package that was offered seems to concede that the only way that the community can be protected and flight risk can be avoided is by a system of 24-hour surveillance by armed guards,” said U.S. Circuit Judge Gerald Lynch, a Barack Obama appointee.

Tal Alexander’s defense attorney Milton Williams disputed that the bail package was simply the defense trying to “offer everything under the sun” to get home confinement.

Still, the question of equality took center stage, as Lynch and the other judges considered whether the brothers should be allowed to fund such solutions simply because they have the resources to do so.

“If dangerousness is the ground on which bail is being denied, you can’t say, ‘I know he’s a danger — he’s Jack the Ripper — but he’s got enough money that we can put him in a gilded cage,” quipped U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Sullivan, a Donald Trump appointee.

Sullivan invoked the name of the infamous London serial killer once more when Howard Srebnick, Alon Alexander’s lawyer, argued that there have been no accusations of criminal activity against his client for the past four years.

“I guess the point is, if Jack the Ripper gets caught and he hasn’t ripped in four years, your view is that there are conditions then that can keep the community safe,” the judge said.

Srebnick then told the court that it was “terribly unfair” for Sullivan to keep likening his client to the notorious murderer, and that the brothers were being unfairly targeted for their wealth since prosecutors noted it gave them more chance to leave the country.

Sullivan eventually shot down that argument as well.

“The court detained your client because he’s dangerous,” the judge said. “That’s not wealth. Lots of poor people are dangerous, too.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaiya Arroyo underscored that danger when it was her turn to address the panel.

“In this case, for years, the defendants engaged in a pattern of violently raping and sexually assaulting victims,” Arroyo said. “This happened in two types of circumstances, as women were being held down and screaming for them to stop, or after they had been incapacitated by drugs and were incapable of saying ‘no.’”

Joining Lynch and Sullivan on Tuesday’s panel was U.S. Circuit Judge Steven Menashi, another Trump appointee.

The panel didn’t immediately issue a ruling following the arguments.

The three brothers made an appearance in Manhattan federal court Tuesday afternoon for arraignment before a magistrate judge on their latest superseding indictment.

Through counsel, each brother entered a plea of not guilty on the 10-count, third superseding indictment, which adds a seventh victim and includes sex trafficking of a minor.

The next conference in the case is scheduled for Aug. 19 before Caproni.

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