Southeast
Wealthy real estate brothers face new lawsuits as defense claims criminal investigation was orchestrated
A bundle of new lawsuits were filed this week against three wealthy brothers accused of drugging and then sexually assaulting and raping dozens of women in multiple states, as the brothers claim a high-profile personal-injury law firm “dictated” the criminal investigation.
Tal, 38, and Oren Alexander, 37, two prominent jet-setting real estate brokers in New York and Miami, and their brother Alon Alexander, Oren’s identical twin, were arrested in Miami Beach on Dec. 11 and remain in federal custody in New York.
More than 60 alleged victims have reported being sexually assaulted by at least one of the brothers, according to prosecutors. On Tuesday, 11 additional victims came forward, filing claims in New York Supreme Court.
“There are a lot of victims, and [the Alexander brothers] deserve some form of accountability for sexually assaulting these women,” the managing partner at AVA Law Group Inc., Andrew Van Arsdale, told Fox News Digital.
DOZENS MORE ALEXANDER BROTHERS ACCUSERS COME FORWARD AS REAL ESTATE TYCOONS PLEAD NOT GUILTY
A display showing images of Alon, Oren, and Tal Alexander prior to a news conference in New York, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. Luxury real estate brokers Oren and Tal Alexander and their brother Alon were arrested and charged with sex-trafficking by federal prosecutors in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Prosecutors allege that the Alexander brothers “worked together, and with others known and unknown to repeatedly and violently drug, sexually assault, and rape” victims in New York, Miami and elsewhere, according to a federal indictment filed in December.
All three brothers were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and a separate count of sex trafficking of one woman by force, fraud or coercion. In addition, Tal was charged with the sex trafficking of a second victim.
All three men have pleaded not guilty.
The 11 women, represented by the AVA Law Group and Curis Law, claim they were allegedly drugged and assaulted by Tal, Oren and Alon Alexander. The latest lawsuits include accusations of assault in Miami, Manhattan and even Moscow.
Oren and Alon Alexander attend Jeff Gordon’s Last Lap on Nov. 22, 2015, at The Villa, Casa Casuarina in Miami Beach, Florida. (Aaron Davidson/Getty Images for J Group)
All but one of the women, Leah Peters, have filed as Jane Does. In seven of the 11 suits, women say they were handed something to drink before they were assaulted, and believe they were drugged.
Peters said that she met Oren Alexander at a luxurious house party in Miami in 2018 and that he offered to give her a tour of the property after courteously striking up conversation with her. He led her to one of the bedrooms, then aggressively threw her onto the bed and forcibly sexually assaulted her, she says in her lawsuit.
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In another accusation, a woman says that she was invited by Tal Alexander to a house party in New York City in July 2013. When she arrived, she was handed an alcoholic beverage and claimed that she felt “lightheaded and disoriented.” She says that she was forcibly raped by Tal and Oren Alexander.
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In another incident, a woman says she met Tal and Oren Alexender in Miami, Florida in 2011. The brothers allegedly claimed that they had VIP access to an after-party, the lawsuit said. They insisted on going to their hotel room, where the woman allegedly was handed an alcoholic beverage and promptly lost consciousness.
When she woke up, the lawsuit says, the brothers “took turns” forcibly raping her.
Van Arsdale said that most of the cases were similar – where the women’s initial charming interaction with the brothers ended in a nightmare.
“They used their wealth to allegedly do whatever they wanted,” he said. “And that’s why I think it’s an important story, and I really hope that other people who may be operating in a similar way can wake up and take notice and hopefully change their pattern of behavior.”
“We commend these survivors for coming forward and standing up against their abusers and look forward to pursuing justice on their behalf,” Antigone Curis, the founder of Curis Law, told Fox News Digital.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Tal Alexander’s attorneys, Milton Williams and Deanna Paul, called the lawsuits a “cash grab.”
“For months, we’ve watched orchestrated efforts encouraging women to profit from past sexual experiences with the Alexander brothers,” they said. “These frivolous lawsuits, filed days before the law’s look-back window is set to expire, are a transparent attempt at a cash grab. A federal court has already dismissed a case against Tal under this statute as time-barred. We expect these will similarly be dismissed.”
Alon Alexander’s attorney, Howard Srebnick, echoed their sentiments.
“Now, having hired a plaintiff’s lawyer, she seeks a money judgment in untold amounts, even as she claims that she voluntarily went to Alon’s residence for a ‘private dinner,’ voluntarily consumed multiple alcoholic drinks (but cannot recall how many glasses), then spent the night at the residence, waking up with what sounds like a hangover,” Srebnick told Fox News Digital.
“She did not file a police report, she did not seek medical attention, she did not sustain any physical injuries, she offers zero forensic evidence that she was drugged or that Alon had any sexual contact with her (much less that he raped her), and she does not identify anyone on the planet Earth who corroborates her demand for money.”
Srebnick said that Alon submitted himself to a lie-detector test, “which concluded with 99.7% certainty that he truthfully declared that he never drugged any woman, nor had sex with any woman who he believed was drugged.”
Real estate brokers Tal Alexander and Oren Alexander at their home on Miami Beach on Feb. 1, 2019. (Patrick Farrell/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Attorneys for the Alexander brothers and another man, Ohad Fisherman, have accused the Florida law firm Morgan & Morgan, which claims to be “America’s largest personal injury law firm,” of pressuring state prosecutors into filing the criminal case against the brothers and Fisherman, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
“Morgan & Morgan are not acting as a neutral third party, they are part of the prosecution team,” an attorney representing Fisherman wrote in a motion adopted by the Alexander brothers’ lawyers, to compel state prosecutors to hand over the law firm’s evidence.
Defense attorneys also accuse the high-profile law firm of controlling witnesses and other evidence that shaped the sexual-battery case, and Morgan & Morgan lawyer Carissa Peebles of “actively curating the criminal investigation,” demanding that state prosecutors turn over any evidence gathered by the firm.
“She controlled which information reached law enforcement and when, reinforcing that she, not the police, was leading the case,” the motion continued in reference to Peebles.
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In recent weeks, prosecutors released footage of alleged victims detailing their claims of sexual assault by the Alexander brothers.
“I was scared for my life, just because of what I just experienced,” one woman whose identity was concealed said in the footage. “Not only the rapes, but just, like, how they were.”
On Dec. 31, 2016, she thought she was meeting Alon Alexander for a barbecue at a Miami Beach condo. But unexpectedly, she said, Oren and Fisherman were waiting for her arrival.
“Alon and Oren then engaged in a demonic discussion about which brother would be the first to rape [the woman],” attorneys on behalf of the woman allege in court documents.
“[Fisherman] just pushed me down and had his knees and hands on my shoulders holding me down,” she recalled in the video released by prosecutors, according to NBC6. “I was crying, and I know the whole time I was asking them not to do it. . . I was just like ‘Please no, please no.’”
The woman claimed that Alon and Oren had taken turns raping her while Fisherman held her in place, according to her interview with investigators.
A display showing images of Alon, Oren and Tal Alexander prior to a news conference in New York on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. Luxury real estate brokers Oren and Tal Alexander and their brother Alon were arrested and charged with sex-trafficking, by federal prosecutors in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
All three men face sexual battery charges and are awaiting trial, and Fisherman is not accused of raping the woman. Representation for the brothers and Fisherman argued in their motion that the prosecution is “built on a narrative that surfaced nearly eight years after the alleged incident — one with no physical evidence, independent eyewitnesses, or contemporaneous documentation.”
The civil lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in damages for the accuser was filed by Morgan & Morgan against the twin brothers the day after their December arrests.
“Morgan & Morgan’s interest in the outcome is undeniable,” the motion continues. “A criminal prosecution can significantly enhance the value of a related civil case by providing strong evidence of liability, establishing the defendant’s wrongdoing, and potentially influencing the amount of damages awarded in the civil suit.”
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said the defense motion is set to be heard by a judge on Feb. 27, but did not add additional comment on the matter.
“This motion is completely meritless and a desperate attempt by the defendants to shift the narrative away from the crimes they’ve been charged with. In addition to the sexual assault charges brought against them by the State Attorney’s Office in Miami, the Alexander brothers have been indicted and arrested for sex trafficking by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York,” Peebles said in a statement.
“Additionally, they have now been sued 17 times by women who they have allegedly sexually assaulted. To assert that we have done anything improper is absurd and a purposeful distraction from the defendants’ actions. We will continue to seek justice for our client and ensure that the truth comes to light.”
Oren Alexander and his twin brother, Alon, attend a bond hearing after being charged with multiple state and federal crimes, including sex trafficking and rape, at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in Miami. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP, Pool)
A judge last month denied bail, finding that the Alexander brothers pose a flight risk and a risk to the community. She said the evidence is strong, adding that the men pose a danger to unsuspecting women.
Authorities executed a warrant in December to search Tal Alexander’s apartment inside a skyscraper on Manhattan’s “Billionaire’s Row.” During the search, multiple hard drives were discovered and seized, including one with a large quantity of sexually explicit videos and pictures, according to prosecutors.
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The seized videos show Alon and Oren Alexander and other men engaged in sexual contact with women “who are visibly under the influence of alcohol or other substances,” prosecutors wrote in a letter, adding that in some cases, at least one of the brothers and another man “physically manipulated the women’s bodies in order to have sex with them while the women did not actively participate in the sexual activity or turned away.”
Oren Alexander, 37, center, and his twin brother, Alon, center-right, speak to their attorney, Joel Denaro, during their bond hearing after being charged with multiple state and federal crimes, including sex trafficking and rape, at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in Miami. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP, Pool)
The brothers pleaded not guilty in New York this month to charges that they had conspired to sexually assault women in multiple states.
They are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, alongside disgraced rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs and the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Luigi Mangione.
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Southeast
Louisiana manhunt continues as dangerous inmate charged with attempted murder remains on the run
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Louisiana authorities are continuing to search for the last of three inmates who broke through a deteriorating wall on Wednesday and escaped a jail about 130 miles northwest of New Orleans.
The three inmates, identified as Keith Eli, 24, of Opelousas; Johnathan Jevon Joseph, 24, of Opelousas; and Joseph Allen Harrington, 26, of Melville, allegedly used sheets and other items to scale an outer wall, drop onto the roof of the first floor and lower themselves to the ground, according to a statement from the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Harrington killed himself with a hunting rifle Thursday after a standoff with police at a home in Port Barre, The Associated Press reported.
Prior to his escape, St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office records show, he was charged with nine felonies, including home invasion and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Keith Eli, left; Johnathan Jevon Joseph, center; and Joseph Allen Harrington, inmates who escaped from a Louisiana prison. (St. Landry Parish Sheriff via Facebook)
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Police nabbed the second escapee, Joseph, the next day after a foot chase.
Sheriff’s officials said a tip led deputies to a home where he was hiding out, according to the report. He surrendered after fleeing to a nearby storage shed.
Joseph, also a convicted felon, was previously charged with principal first-degree rape, along with drug and gun offenses.
The inmates escaped St. Landry Parish Jail Wednesday in Louisiana. (Google Maps)
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The third missing inmate, Eli, remains missing and was charged with attempted second-degree murder.
“We would prefer that he surrender himself peaceably, but we will not rest until he is captured,” St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz wrote in a statement obtained by the AP.
In May, 10 prisoners escaped a minimum-custody New Orleans jail after removing a toilet from a wall inside a cell and crawling through it.
Video cameras in the prison captured the brazen escape, with footage showing the group scaling a fence, using blankets to protect themselves from barbed wire and running across an interstate to a nearby neighborhood where they changed clothes.
CALIFORNIA JAIL CUTS SEATTLE MURDER SUSPECT LOOSE BY MISTAKE, TRIGGERING MANHUNT AS VICTIM’S MOM FUMES
Inmates wrote messages, including, “To Easy LOL” and “WE INNOCENT,” among others, near the hole they used to flee the jail.
The last remaining fugitive, a four-time convicted killer, was arrested five months after the escape after a standoff with authorities in Atlanta.
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Three jail employees have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Fox News Digital previously reported.
An internal investigation has been initiated, and the jail supervisory staff will be providing a comprehensive report, according to Guidroz.
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Southeast
Disgraced teacher accused of using Google Docs to groom underage student before alleged sex crimes
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A Palm Beach County, Florida, science teacher is behind bars after investigators say he used a shared Google Doc to secretly communicate with a student before engaging in sexual acts with her at school and inside his apartment, according to an arrest affidavit.
Elias Gordon Farley, 26, a former teacher at Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, was arrested after the student reported the alleged abuse on Nov. 18.
The teen told detectives the interactions began as casual conversations during the previous school year, but over the summer, Farley allegedly created a shared Google Doc in which the two wrote messages back and forth.
Investigators said the file later contained explicit entries describing sexual activity and planning when they would meet privately.
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Elias Gordon Farley, a former teacher at the Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, is facing felony charges after police say he engaged in a months-long sexual relationship with a student. (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)
According to the affidavit, the student said the relationship became physical in mid-September inside Farley’s office, where he touched her beneath her clothing. She told detectives the encounters continued for weeks in both his office and a classroom.
By late September and into October, she said the pair were engaging in sexual acts, including oral sex and, at one point, intercourse inside a classroom on campus.
The student also described visiting Farley’s apartment twice in early November after recognizing details he had mentioned about its location and layout. She told deputies that several sexual encounters occurred during those visits.
NEBRASKA TEACHER ALLEGEDLY OFFERED TO ‘SHARE’ BOYFRIEND WITH STUDENT IN SEX TRAFFICKING CASE
A teacher was accused of using Google Docs to talk to an underage student before sexual encounters. (Google Maps)
Detectives later executed a search warrant and said they found bedding, condom wrappers and furniture matching her description. Farley’s roommate confirmed he had not been home on the dates the teen said she visited.
School surveillance video reviewed by deputies also appeared to support her account, showing Farley and the student entering his office together on Nov. 7 and later entering a classroom for about an hour.
The situation came to light after the student confided in an art teacher on Nov. 14 and showed her bruises and bite marks she said came from Farley. Administrators were informed the next day, suspended Farley immediately and reported the matter to child welfare authorities.
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A former science teacher at Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Palm Beach County was arrested after allegations of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. (iStock)
Farley refused to speak with detectives after being read his Miranda rights, according to the affidavit.
Farley was booked into the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center Dec. 4 and is being held on $500,000 bond, jail records show. He faces charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and offense against a student by an authority figure.
In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, Donna Klein Jewish Academy said it is cooperating fully with the investigation and called the situation “a difficult time for all of us at Donna Klein.”
TEACHER PLEADS GUILTY TO SEXUALLY ABUSING 15-YEAR-OLD STUDENT WEEKS AFTER GIVING BIRTH: REPORT
“We are approaching this serious situation with the utmost care, keeping the well-being of our students, faculty and families at the forefront,” a spokesperson said.
The school said it is working closely with families, teachers and staff to ensure they have the support they need, adding that its priority is maintaining “a safe, compassionate and educational environment for all.”
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The spokesperson said no additional details would be released “out of respect for the privacy of our community” but that Farley is no longer employed at the school.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office at 561-688-3000.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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Southeast
Florida teens in custody after 14-year-old girl found shot to death, burnt: sheriff
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Two teen boys in Florida are accused of fatally shooting a 14-year-old girl and setting her on fire along a wooded walking trail last week in what authorities are calling a “horrific” killing.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters Thursday that the body has been identified as Danika Troy. He said Danika’s mother reported her as a runaway on Monday.
“Unbeknownst to the mother, Danika was murdered the previous night,” Johnson said.
A passerby discovered Danika’s body along a wooded area off Kimberly Road in Pace, a town about 16 miles northeast of Pensacola, and called 911, Johnson said.
MIGRANT TEENAGERS CHARGED IN FATAL STABBING OF HOMELESS MAN IN CHICAGO
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters that the suspects were supposedly friends with the victim from school. He said investigators were still working to determine a motive. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators quickly identified the suspects as 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins and 16-year-old Gabriel Williams and took them into custody.
“This is where it gets really horrific,” Johnson said.
Kimahri Blevins, 14, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Williams allegedly stole his mother’s handgun and shot Danika.
“It’s bad enough you kill a 14-year-old. You’re 14. You’re 16,” Johnson said. “Shoot her multiple times, and then they set her on fire.”
Gabriel Williams, 16, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Johnson said investigators are still working to determine a motive.
“They have been interviewed, but the motive that they’re giving doesn’t fit the forensics or any facts of the case, so we don’t have a legit motive,” he told reporters.
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Blevins and Williams supposedly knew the victim from school, according to Johnson. He believed the two teens have had previous “run-ins” with law enforcement, though he could not immediately say if they had earlier arrests.
Blevins and Williams are being held at the Department of Juvenile Justice on premeditated first-degree murder charges.
“You don’t want to go out and see a burnt child with bullet holes,” Johnson said. “That’s not something you sign up for.”
Johnson said no parents have been charged at this time, though investigators are “looking into it.”
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The sheriff’s office is working with the State Attorney to charge both teens as adults.
“If you do an adult crime, you gotta do adult time,” Johnson said.
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