🔗 Share this article

One-time Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was recorded informing his UK-based partner that they'd be screwed and in grave danger if he was declared able to face trial on sex trafficking allegations this autumn, a New York federal court has been told.

The taped conversations were among more than 100 phone calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith played during a multi-day fitness to stand trial proceeding this week on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team argue that he is coping with dementia and late onset of Alzheimer's and is not competent to stand trial next to his partner and their alleged middleman in October.

Nevertheless, government lawyers argue their medical experts determined his condition has gotten better and that the conversations reveal he is extremely preoccupied on being ruled not competent.

In further audio clips, Jeffries says he is hoping for a positive result, characterizing being deemed competent as a calamity, and says to a medical professional: you had better find me incompetent, the judge heard.

Legal Proceedings and Psychiatric Evidence

The recordings were taped last year while he was being treated for four months in a psychiatric facility at a correctional institution in North Carolina to assess if he could restore fitness.

The elderly defendant had earlier been ruled legally unfit in May but facility staff then declared in December that he was able for trial after his hospital stay.

Government attorneys told the judge Jeffries often complained about incarceration and was caught on tape explaining to Smith how terrible incarceration was, adding: so we must pull this off.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported intermediary James Jacobson, 73, were charged with operating a international trafficking and prostitution operation in October 2024.

They have pleaded not guilty the charges, which have a potential penalty of life imprisonment.

Their arrests were prompted by an investigation that revealed the trio had been at the centre of a elaborate operation scouting men for sex globally while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after considering the statements of six experts - psychologists, psychiatrists and brain specialists, including prison doctors - who were examined in proceedings recently.

'Unrestrained' Behavior

Several defence experts, argue that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury, suspected Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries demonstrates unfiltered and improper conduct, which is part of a range of dementia symptoms.

Instances include Jeffries referring to the prosecution's professional psychologist a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and describing his partner Smith as a midget, they say.

He was also heard in minute detail on approximately 20 recorded calls talking about his travel itinerary for the near future, notwithstanding having been on home confinement since 2024.

"I don't want to go on trips without you," Jeffries was recorded saying to Smith from prison.

Prosecutors suggest this demonstrates his recognition that he would go free if he was found unfit and the case were dropped.

Conversely, the defence's medical experts disagree, arguing it instead underscores that Jeffries does not remember his legal restrictions and the severity of the situation.

"I didn't see the normal affect that I would expect someone to have who is confronting such severe allegations," testified one forensic psychiatrist who reviewed Jeffries.

"Instead, his demeanor throughout the assessment... was almost like we were having a meal at his club. There was no indication of distress."

Diverging Medical Diagnoses

Testimony indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' mental decline began in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was accelerated by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 fall and his medical records showed he persisted in drinking following being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general drinking had a significant effect on his state.

Following the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and began hallucinating, with one episode in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, unable to move, in a neighbor's yard.

Medical professionals from a prison hospital stated that Jeffries was fit after observing him over four months in prison.

They assert his cognitive abilities did not match Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be conclusively diagnosed until an autopsy could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has experienced... he still is sharper and more functioning cognitively than probably 95% of the inmates that we test for competency," testified one doctor.

Jeffries, wearing a business attire in the courtroom, was reported to be cheerful and quite charismatic during evaluations in prison, and was deliberately being provocative, on occasion using informal language.

They found Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and said his results may have improved since 2023 from borderline or impaired to normal because of abstinence from alcohol and improved medication management during his stay.

109 Jail Recordings Prompt Concerns

Key to assessing competency is whether Jeffries grasps the charges against him, their penalties, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial