![\"Lindsey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260312_Portrait-Lindsey-Acree_Miami-Herald_Photo-Sydney-Walsh_0023.jpg\" "\\"Lindsey")
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Lindsey Acree, right, and her mother in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday, March 12, 2026. She was Victim #1 in the Alexander brothers\u2019 sex-trafficking trial in Manhattan federal court. On Monday, March 9, 2026, a jury found the three brothers from Miami guilty on all counts.<\/p>\n
Sydney Walsh<\/p>\n
Special to the Miami Herald<\/p>\n
Inside the bathroom on the 26th floor of a Manhattan federal courthouse, Lindsey Acree was throwing up into a gold trash can.<\/p>\n
A defense attorney had just grilled her for an hour about her rape some 15 years ago. She ran to the bathroom during the lunch break, and then continued answering questions in front of a courtroom that included her abusers, their family, friends and an army of lawyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been literally like the hardest thing ever,\u201d Acree told the court.<\/p>\n
On Monday, a 12-person jury in New York \u2013 half women and half men \u2013 found the three Alexander brothers, who grew up in Miami, guilty on all 10 counts of related to sexually abusing and sex trafficking women over nearly two decades.<\/p>\n
Acree, 40, a Brooklyn-based art gallery owner, is Victim #1 in court records.<\/p>\n
Tal Alexander, 39, who was convicted of sex trafficking Acree, and his twin brothers Oren and Alon, 38, are not all charged in every count, but each face up to life in prison. Their sentencing will be Aug. 6.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Alexander brothers convicted of sex trafficking in NYC, face up to life in prison<\/a><\/p>\n More than 70 women have come forward, according to federal prosecutors, \u201cmany of them, if not nearly all\u201d with accusations of sexual abuse against at least one of the brothers.<\/p>\n For Acree and other survivors, some of whom say they have waited decades for the brothers to be brought to justice, the guilty verdict in the five-week trial in Manhattan federal court is almost hard to believe. Other high-profile sex offenders \u2013 Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> and Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs \u2013 have previously gotten off without significant jail time.<\/p>\n During breaks between her testimony and cross-examination on Feb 10, Acree was dry heaving in the witness room off to the side of the courtroom. Her attorney, Lilian Timmermann, made a make-shift pillow out of Acree\u2019s jacket and fed her Sour Patch Kids as she lay in a fetal position on the floor, Acree told the Miami Herald.<\/p>\n Since news first broke in 2024 about sexual allegations against the Alexander brothers, who graduated from Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High near Aventura about 20 years ago, Acree has been speaking to her attorney, FBI agents, prosecutors \u2013 and, she told the Herald, her cats.<\/p>\n Stress of trial<\/p>\n For weeks, she was throwing up in her kitchen sink in the morning, making sure her young daughter didn\u2019t see her. Then, she would braid her hair and get her ready for school.<\/p>\n \u201cMommy is trying to fight some bad guys,\u201d she would tell her daughter, to explain her absence.<\/p>\n The stress the trial has caused has been visible. Her clothes don\u2019t fit. She used to like it when people told her she looked skinny, but this was a \u201csad skinny,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Just a day after the verdict was delivered, she found some peace.<\/p>\n \u201cI jumped right back into my gallery,\u201d she said in a text message to a Herald reporter. \u201cJust met with an incredible photographer I represent from Ireland. Ate a full bowl of pasta and bread and honestly feel alive again.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamptons assault<\/p>\n When asked by prosecutors what happened in the Hamptons on Memorial Day weekend in 2011, Acree had a straight-forward answer:<\/p>\n \u201cI was raped by two men,\u201d she testified, according to the trial transcript.<\/p>\n As to her overall memory regarding that weekend, Acree, who was 25 at the time, described it as a flip book with pages missing from it.<\/p>\n She had been invited by a friend to go to her \u201cfriends from Miami\u2019s house\u201d in the Hamptons for the weekend, she testified. Tal and another man picked the two women up at the East Hampton train station. When they got to the house, they changed and went into the hot tub.<\/p>\n She remembers taking a couple of sips, or maybe half of a glass of wine, while in the hot tub with Tal.<\/p>\n \u201cI have memories that are sharp, and then I don\u2019t know how much period of time was gone, like, and then I don\u2019t know, I don\u2019t know how much time passes,\u201d she testified.<\/p>\n After the drink \u2013 which she thinks was drugged \u2013 she remembers following Tal into a sauna where she thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he grabbed her by the back of the neck and pinned her against the bench.<\/p>\n From there her memory is hazy, with gaps. But she testified she does remember another man walking into the sauna, according to the transcript.<\/p>\n Eventually, the two men led her into a gym at the house. She remembers Tal setting up a tripod and then being raped by both men at the same time, she testified.<\/p>\n She remembers them both \u201claughing like it was a game,\u201d she testified.<\/p>\n The next thing she remembers is waking up in a lawn chair by the pool in the backyard. The men made fun of her, she said, telling her that she \u201chad quite the night\u201d and had \u201cto leave the house.\u201d It was \u201chumiliating,\u201d she testified.<\/p>\n Deanna Paul, Tal\u2019s defense attorney, questioned her for about three hours during the trial.<\/p>\n She asked Acree to read an email aloud she sent her mom after the weekend, where she wrote, in part: \u201cThe Hamptons was a little crazy. My friend Hana and I went and stayed at these guys from Miami\u2019s house who ended up being total assholes. It was a good time, though. Just learned that it doesn\u2019t matter where you are or how glamorous the place is. If you\u2019re with creeps, it isn\u2019t fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul tried to poke holes in Acree\u2019s story \u2013 noting she said she had a \u201cgood time\u201d in her email to her mother \u2013 but it wasn\u2019t enough to sway the jury that found Tal Alexander guilty of sex trafficking Acree.<\/p>\n Before the Memorial Day assault, Acree alleges she was raped by Oren Alexander, Tal\u2019s younger brother, in his New York apartment, according to her civil lawsuit against him<\/a>, Tal and two other defendants.<\/p>\n Acree met Oren at a nightclub sometime in 2011. They had mutual social circles, and he had friended her on Facebook in April that year, according to her suit. Later that spring, she ran into him again at another club in New York.<\/p>\n That night, Oren invited her to an \u201cafterparty\u201d at his Manhattan apartment, according to her lawsuit, but no one else was there. Acree, in the suit, alleges he raped her and she ran out, leaving behind her phone.<\/p>\n When she went to the Hamptons for the Memorial Day weekend that same year, she testified she didn\u2019t know Tal would be there and she did not know at the time that Tal was Oren\u2019s older brother. As they were driving from the train station to the Hamptons home, she said, the other man in the car mentioned Oren\u2019s name. When she asked if they knew Oren Alexander, Tal answered that he did not, she testified.<\/p>\n Acree didn\u2019t file a police report and Oren was not charged criminally. In Miami-Dade, Oren is facing three sexual battery charges related to women he is accused of raping. (Alon is facing one sexual-battery charge with Oren stemming from an alleged assault at Alon\u2019s Miami Beach condo on New Year\u2019s Eve in 2016.)<\/p>\n \u201cMr. [Oren] Alexander has consistently maintained that Ms Acree\u2019s allegations in the civil complaint describe events that he strongly disputes,\u201d Juda Engelmayer, a spokesperson for the brothers said in a statement Friday. \u201cThese claims involve events alleged to have occurred more than a decade ago, and the facts surrounding them will ultimately be addressed through the legal process. Mr. Alexander looks forward to the opportunity to respond fully in court.\u201d<\/p>\n Judge Valerie Caproni had ruled prior to Acree\u2019s testimony in the federal sex-trafficking case that the incident with Oren would not be allowed to be discussed as part of the trial.<\/p>\n During her cross-examination, Paul, Tal\u2019s attorney, asked Acree questions about having met Oren at a club, going to his apartment at a later date, whether she had seen pictures of family there, if she could describe his bedroom, whether they exchanged numbers that night.<\/p>\n Some of her questions were followed by sustained objections.<\/p>\n \u201cThe trial transcript speaks for itself,\u201d Paul said in a statement to the Herald. \u201cMy questions were fully consistent with the Court\u2019s rulings, and cross-examination conducted within those rulings is the basic function of a criminal trial.\u201d<\/p>\n Acree later told the Herald she was frustrated to not be able to say in court what had happened to her.<\/p>\n \u201cDefense counsel started asking me really detailed questions about it, implying through her questions I\u2019d had a consensual sexual relationship with Oren, but I wasn\u2019t allowed to say what he\u2019d done to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She said she felt \u201cmuzzled and powerless.\u201d<\/p>\n After the verdict<\/p>\n After Monday\u2019s guilty verdict in the sex-trafficking case, Timmermann and Acree met up in the lobby of the Four Seasons hotel near the courthouse, where they both were staying during the trial.<\/p>\n Previously, Acree told the Herald she wasn\u2019t suing the brothers to get money from them, but to take a stand with the other women. She was moved to do so after she read that Howard Srebnick, Alon\u2019s defense lawyer, told reporters<\/a> outside a federal bond hearing in January 2025 that the women filing lawsuits were trying to \u201cprofiteer from any sexual activity they had many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFortunately, I\u2019m in a position where I will never need money from anyone, certainly not theirs,\u201d she told the Herald last May.<\/a><\/p>\n Acree and Timmermann met in October 2024, right before Acree was set to meet with the FBI \u2013 two months before the brothers\u2019 arrests in December 2024 in Miami Beach. Acree said Timmermann gave her the confidence and courage to speak with the FBI.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Miami brothers, real estate stars, arrested by FBI. Accused of raping, drugging women<\/a><\/p>\n She had spoken to other lawyers before, but none she\u2019d felt comfortable with until she met Timmermann, whom Acree calls a \u201cwarrior for women.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNone of this would have happened without her,\u201d Acree said in an interview with the Herald this week.<\/p>\n Despite the stress and anxiety caused by the ordeal, Acree hopes other women will be inspired by the verdict, believe in the process, and continue to come forward.<\/p>\n \u201cOur justice system is working, and you don\u2019t need to be afraid,\u201d she said. \u201cAnyone in your life that would judge you for coming forward should not be in your life. It\u2019s not something to be ashamed of, you did nothing wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n While the federal trial is over, Acree and Timmermann still have work ahead. The civil lawsuit is ongoing, and Acree is hoping to set up a foundation to help other victims.<\/p>\n After taking a call from Timmermann Wednesday night, Acree put her daughter to bed.<\/p>\n \u201cMommy, I never asked you to fight the bad guys,\u201d her daughter said to her that night. \u201cI just want you to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n Every day, she leaves notes and drawings on napkins in her daughter\u2019s snack box for school. One of them, which she shared with the Herald, had a story about a mom and daughter who were super heros, fighting bad guys and winning.<\/p>\n This story was originally published March 13, 2026 at 3:56 PM.<\/p>\n Ana Claudia Chacin<\/a><\/p>\n Miami Herald<\/p>\n Ana Claudia is an investigative reporter at the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald. She was born in Venezuela, grew up in Miami and was previously a fellow with The Washington Post\u2019s investigative unit through the Investigative Writing Workshop at American University, where she obtained her Master\u2019s degree.Ana Claudia Chacin es una periodista investigativa para el Herald. Fue criada en Miami y previamente fue interna del equipo investigativo en el Washington Post.\n <\/p>\n![\"Lindsey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260312_Portrait-Lindsey-Acree_Miami-Herald_Photo-Sydney-Walsh_0024.jpg\" "\\"20260312_Portrait-Lindsey-Acree_Miami-Herald_Photo-Sydney-Walsh_0024.jpg\\"")
Lindsey Acree and her mom in Brooklyn, New York on March 12, 2026. Sydney Walsh Special to the Miami Herald <\/p>\n![\"Deanna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2258493551.jpg\" "\\"GettyImages-2258493551.jpg\\"")
Deanna Paul, attorney for Tal Alexander, arrives for his trial at Manhattan Federal Court on Jan. 27, 2026 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago Getty Images Oren assaulted her; his team disputes it<\/p>\n![\"Oren](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MIA_Alexander_Brothers_MJO_21.JPG\" "\\"MIA_Alexander_Brothers_MJO_21.JPG\\"")
Oren Alexander, left, and his twin brother, Alon, right, attend their bond hearing at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in Miami, Fla. MATIAS J. OCNER mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
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