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Who are Tal, Oren and Alon Alexander? Brothers indicted for sex trafficking
The FBI arrested a trio of high-profile Florida brothers in Miami on Wednesday amid sex trafficking allegations.
Miami-Dade Corrections/AP Photo
Twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 37, and their 38-year-old brother Tal Alexander, are all charged with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, and sex trafficking by force, cause or coercion.
Tal Alexander is additionally charged with a second count of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.
Alon and Oren Alexander are being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami, according to online records. Tal Alexander does not appear in a Miami-Dade County inmate search.
Prosecutors claim the brothers, for over a decade, together and separately drugged, sexually assaulted, and raped dozens of victims.
An unsealed federal indictment in Manhattan accuses the three men of luring women with promises of luxury experiences and then forcibly raping or sexually assaulting them, sometimes by multiple men.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said in a news release Wednesday, “The charges outlined in this indictment reflect some of the most heinous and dehumanizing crimes of sexual exploitation that our NYPD detectives investigate.”
The criminal charges follow a string of civil lawsuits against the brothers alleging rape and sexual assault.
“We are glad to hear that there will finally be some measure of accountability for the Alexander brothers and justice for their many victims,” law firm Wigdor LLP, which represents several women who’ve accused the Alexanders of rape, said in a statement to USA Today. “We applaud all the survivors who have had the strength and courage to speak up about their unimaginable experiences after years of pain and suffering.”
Newsweek has contacted a lawyer for Alon Alexander by email for comment.
Who is Alon Alexander?
Alon Alexander, one of the twins, served as president of Kent Security, the Alexander parents’ private security firm since 2009, but his name is no longer listed on its website.
Newsweek has contacted Kent Security by email for comment.
The bio of a LinkedIn profile appearing to belong to Alon Alexander says he is an “Experienced President with a demonstrated history of working in the facilities services industry” skilled in “negotiation, operations management, customer relationship management (CRM), team building, and management.”
Alon Alexander graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, pre-law, and from New York Law School in 2012, according to LinkedIn.
AP Photo
Who are Tal and Oren Alexander?
Oren and Tal Alexander co-founded the luxury real estate firm Official, which specializes in high-end properties in cities like NYC, Miami, and Los Angeles with billionaire clients.
The bio of a LinkedIn profile appearing to belong to Tal Alexander reads, “Tal and his brother Oren co-run one of the leading real estate teams in the country. They have sold close to one billion in luxury residential real estate sales throughout the United States and specialize in the New York City, Hamptons, and Florida markets.”
“The Alexander Team is consistently ranked among the absolute top real estate producers in the country. The brothers are supported by a team of 11 professionals and have an unprecedented reputation for a relentless work ethic and a culture of service and success,” it continues.
Oren and Tal Alexander were also profiled in a September 2013 story in Details magazine titled “Meet the New Rock Stars of Real Estate.”
“Broker brothers Tal and Oren Alexander set a record last August for the most expensive house sale in Miami-Dade County history with this 30,000-square-foot residence—developed by their dad—on the exclusive magnate retreat of Indian Creek Island,” the article captioned a photo of the luxury mansion.
Newsweek has contacted Official by email for comment.
Why were Tal, Alon, and Oren Alexander arrested?
Tal, Alon, and Oren Alexander were arrested in Florida on Wednesday for allegedly operating a “long-running sex trafficking scheme” since 2010. Prosecutors claim the brothers used “deception, fraud, and coercion,” leveraging their wealth to entice women to parties, events, and trips, where they were subsequently assaulted.
What did the civil lawsuits allege?
Law enforcement has interviewed numerous women who report being sexually assaulted by the Alexander brothers, including some who claim they were raped by the brothers while in high school in Miami in the early 2000s, CNN reports.
All three brothers face charges of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking in connection with a 2016 case. The victim alleges that after meeting the twins on a dating app, they flew her and a friend to New York, where Oren drugged and raped her.
Evidence from Oren’s iCloud shows discussions about an “orgy” and plans for future trips, including one to Tulum, Mexico, where they discussed “importing” women, providing drugs, and arranging sexual encounters.
Tal Alexander is separately charged with sex trafficking a second victim in July 2011 in the Hamptons.
Prosecutors allege he and another man picked up the victim and her friend, gave her wine that made her feel unwell, and then assaulted her while recording the incident. The victim later woke up outside the house.
Tal and Oren Alexander are also accused of filing false police reports and threatening defamation lawsuits to silence allegations of sexual assault.
A 2012 case alleges Alon and Tal raped a woman in an assault reportedly planned by Oren.
Their representatives have denied the allegations.
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Three San Francisco couples set out Monday for their annual road trip to Ashland, Ore., for the town’s famous Shakespeare festival. They drove separately and planned to meet at 6:30 p.m. on the terrace of their favorite Japanese restaurant there.
They had booked a table for six, but only four showed up for dinner.
Judith and Wylie Sheldon were found dead in their running car on the side of the road to Oregon, shocking their friends and family and leaving a hole in San Francisco’s arts and film world.
Ms. Sheldon, 84, was the daughter of William Wyler — who won three Oscars for best director — and chaired the board of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Mr. Sheldon, 86, was a prominent lawyer.
David Smith, who had befriended the couple more than 40 years ago, said in an interview that he and the others at the dinner table had grown nervous as time ticked on and their friends did not answer repeated calls to their cellphones. They learned they had not checked into their hotel either.
The friends eventually learned from one of the couple’s sons that the California Highway Patrol had found the couple at 5:46 p.m., both dead inside their running Jeep Compass. It was parked on the side of Interstate 5, north of Redding, Calif., more than 100 miles from their destination, the authorities said. Ms. Sheldon was driving, while Mr. Sheldon was in the passenger seat, according to the authorities.
The Redding area on Monday was under an extreme heat warning issued by the National Weather Service. Temperatures reached 109 degrees, according to the Weather Service.
Mr. Smith said he learned from the son that the couple had been found without any water or other liquids in the car. The fan was on high, but the air conditioning was not working, meaning they might have been blasted with hot air, Mr. Smith said. The windows were rolled down. The car had plenty of gas, and there were no signs of mechanical failure or foul play, Mr. Smith said the son told him.
“They didn’t crash. They stopped. They both just died there,” Mr. Smith said. “The entire thing is so bizarre. We’re still in a state of shock.”
The circumstances and cause of the couple’s death is under investigation but “appears to be medically related,” the Highway Patrol said in a statement.
Whether the heat contributed to the couple’s death “may be determined” by an autopsy, a spokesman for the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said, adding that one had not been scheduled yet and could take several weeks to complete.
“We’ll just have to see,” the spokesman, Tim Mapes, said.
The Sheldons met at Stanford University and had two sons. They lived in a large home in San Francisco’s upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood that had views of the bay from the front and a garden out back.
They hosted many parties there on behalf of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and sometimes let revelers pose for photos with Mr. Wyler’s Oscar statuettes. Ms. Sheldon fell in love with silent movies after first seeing those created by her father — before his better known blockbusters like “Ben-Hur” and “Roman Holiday” — only about 30 years ago, said Anita Monga, artistic director of the festival.
Stacey Wisnia, the festival’s executive director, said the couple was generous, delightful and unassuming.
Back in Ashland, Ore., Mr. Smith said the four remaining friends had distracted themselves from their grief by attending plays, including “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Come From Away.” They were able to give away their friends’ tickets.
Ms. Monga had last seen Ms. Sheldon just last month at the film festival, which was held at the newly remade Castro Theater.
“This is such a shock,” Ms. Monga said of the deaths. “Also because it’s still a mystery.”
Luigi Mangione appears for a pretrial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, June 17, 2026.
Angelina Katsanis/AP
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Angelina Katsanis/AP
New York — In a dramatic reversal, Luigi Mangione’s legal team on Thursday backed away from a plan to use a psychiatric defense when his case goes to trial in state court in September. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to murdering health insurance CEO Brian Thompson in 2024 on a Manhattan street.
At a hearing only a day earlier before state Judge Gregory Carro, Mangione’s attorneys confirmed that Mangione had been undergoing psychiatric evaluation. They signaled that his defense would be based at least in part on the argument that Mangione was experiencing “extreme emotional disturbance.”
But in a one-line letter sent to Carro on Thursday, Mangione’s team said that “at this time” they no longer intend to introduce psychiatric evidence during the trial. It’s unclear what sparked the shift. Mangione’s team didn’t respond to NPR’s request for comment.
Former Manhattan prosecutor and legal analyst Gary Galperin told NPR it was a “stunning reversal” for Mangione to withdraw from the psychiatric defense. “One can only speculate at this point as to the reasons,” he said.
“What remains, of course, at this point is the question of what defense they will pursue at trial,” he added.
This maneuver came after Carro ordered Mangione’s attorneys to quickly share psychiatric information with prosecutors.
“They need to know what the malady is that this defendant suffers and how that triggered extreme emotional distress,” he said, during Wednesday’s hearing. “I’m not going to let you surprise people on the eve of trial. Get it done.”
Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Joel Seidemann repeatedly complained that Mangione’s team was “stonewalling” the prosecution by withholding medical information about his psychiatric state. “We have gotten nothing,” Seidemann said.
Mangione’s lead attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo denied her team was delaying the court process or improperly withholding information.
But legal analyst Richard Schoenstein says by withdrawing the psychiatric defense, Mangione’s team “is avoiding the court deadline to produce its psychiatric evidence.”
According to Schoenstein, this latest move “does not entirely foreclose” Mangione’s team from returning to some form of psychiatric argument during the trial, but he added that such a defense would now be far more difficult.
Mangione’s case has drawn worldwide attention. Legal experts say the 28-eight-year old has drawn an unusual level of public support because of his criticism of the health insurance industry. Thompson, a father of two, was CEO of UnitedHealthcare at the time of his murder.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Carro also indicated that a tranche of court documents would be made public that apparently relate to Mangione’s potential psychiatric defense. On Thursday, Carro reversed course.
In a signed order, he said that because Mangione will no longer present psychiatric evidence, “the court’s previous order sealing certain transcripts, emails, and documents, remains in effect.”
Mangione’s state trial is scheduled to begin in early September, with a federal trial expected to take place later.
The museums, designed by conservative nonprofits and Trump appointees, tell the story of early America, from colonization to revolution. The one exhibition looking beyond the early years is the “Wall of American Heroes.” It is a list of 51 people, chosen to illustrate 250 years of American history.
A White House spokesman said they were “individuals who shaped this nation’s history, culture and spirit across generations.”
The people pictured on this national honor roll — and the people left out — help illustrate what this administration sees as the highlights of American history.
Amid the administration’s efforts to reshape the nation’s relationship with its past, Trump appointees heavily weighted the list toward a single era of American history — and a few specific kinds of hero.
The other exhibitions in the Freedom Trucks were crafted by a pair of conservative nonprofits, PragerU and Hillsdale College. But the “Wall of American Heroes” was created by Freedom 250, a nonprofit effort whose leaders were chosen by President Trump and that was created to lead the planning of celebrations of the nation’s 250th birthday, overshadowing a bipartisan congressional commission.
A spokeswoman for Freedom 250 said Mr. Trump was not directly involved in the selection of those featured.
But the list clearly tracks Mr. Trump’s own lifetime and the heroes of the conservative political movement.
The wall’s tilt toward heroes of the baby boomer generation, for instance, extends beyond Hollywood stars and musicians. Of the four religious leaders on the list, two — Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the Rev. Billy Graham — also appeared on TV regularly in the 1950s and 1960s. The only painter on the list is Norman Rockwell, known for his idealized depictions of American life in that period.
By contrast, there is only a handful of figures from the first decades of American independence.
“That’s a disservice, if your intention is to present the last 250 years,” said Sarah Weicksel, the executive director of the American Historical Association. “Because all of the people on this list are building on the work and struggles and progress that was made by the people in the 150 years prior.”
The “Wall of American Heroes” was inspired by a similar display in a traveling museum created by the State of Virginia. But Virginia’s display celebrates little-known historical figures.
Mr. Trump’s, by and large, celebrates people who are already well-known — and, often, people who were famous in their own time. For example, it praises P.T. Barnum, a circus impresario who used hoaxes and freak shows to draw crowds. The wall calls him an “icon of American sensationalism.”
The spokeswoman for Freedom 250 said that many of the names on the wall were drawn from a list of 250 people that Mr. Trump wants to include in a “Garden of American Heroes” in Washington.
The spokeswoman declined to say what criteria were used to narrow down the list.
The only president whose name appears on the wall — not on the list of heroes, but alongside his quotation — is Mr. Trump himself.
Explore the Wall of Heroes
Navigate the display by dragging from side to side.
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