Three brothers, including two prominent real-estate businessmen, have each been sentenced to 30 years in prison for drugging and raping dozens of women over several decades.According to the BBC report, Tal Alexander, 40, and twin brothers Oren and Alon Alexander, 39, were convicted in March of exploiting their wealth and social standing to lure women to parties and luxury properties, where they sexually assaulted them.“Your conduct was monstrous,” Judge Valerie Caproni said before handing down the sentences in a New York court. “Your crimes wreaked havoc on their lives.”During Tuesday’s hearing, 12 victims addressed the court, including one woman who had not testified during the trial. They described the lasting psychological trauma caused by the assaults and urged the judge to ensure that the shame they had carried was instead borne by the defendants.Several victims called for the brothers to receive the maximum punishment of life imprisonment.Maya Miller told the court that she lost her sense of safety after Tal Alexander raped her in 2014. “I carry a quiet funeral within me for the person I might’ve become if this never happened to me,” she said.Another victim, identified by the pseudonym Isa Brooks, said she was raped by Tal and Alon Alexander when she was 16. The experience, she said, left her struggling to trust her own judgement.“I had no idea the danger I was in till it was too late,” Brooks told the court.A third woman recounted that when she considered reporting the rape, Tal Alexander threatened her by saying he knew where her sister worked.Prosecutors seek maximum punishmentProsecutor Elizabeth Espinosa argued that the brothers deserved the harshest possible sentences, saying the evidence presented a deeply disturbing account of their actions.“For years, they honed their methods of luring women with the promise of luxury,” she said, adding that the brothers appeared “completely unmoved by the path of suffering they left behind them”.Throughout the victims’ statements, the three brothers displayed little visible emotion, either staring ahead or consulting their lawyers. Their attorneys said they had advised the defendants against looking at the women to prevent their actions from being misinterpreted.Defence seeks reduced sentencesLawyers representing the brothers had requested prison terms of 15 years, arguing that the men had become devoted fathers and that their families would face hardship during their absence.All three brothers also addressed the court, continuing to maintain their innocence despite their convictions.
