🔗 Share this article

One-time Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was recorded informing his British partner how they are finished and in big trouble if he was declared competent to go to trial on trafficking allegations in the coming months, a New York federal court has learned.

The taped conversations were part of more than 100 recorded calls between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith played during a multi-day mental competency proceeding this week on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys contend that he is suffering with dementia and the onset of Alzheimer's and is unfit to face trial together with his partner and their accused intermediary in October.

Nevertheless, government lawyers argue their medical experts determined his mental state has stabilized and that the recordings show he is extremely fixated on being found incompetent.

In other tapes, Jeffries says he is hoping for a favorable ruling, describing being ruled able as a catastrophe, and says to a doctor: you better declare me unfit, the judge learned.

Court Hearings and Medical Opinions

The conversations were recorded the previous year while he was being evaluated for a period of months in a psychiatric facility at a US prison in North Carolina to see if he could recover fitness.

The 81-year-old had in the past been deemed not competent in May but facility staff then announced in December that he was able for trial following his hospital stay.

Government attorneys advised the judge Jeffries frequently protested incarceration and was heard describing to Smith how awful prison was, stating: so we must pull this off.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their accused go-between James Jacobson, 73, were charged with operating a global trafficking and commercial sex enterprise in October 2024.

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

Their arrests followed an exposé that uncovered the three had been at the centre of a elaborate operation recruiting men for sex internationally while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after considering the evidence of several professionals - psychologists, doctors and medical experts, including prison doctors - who were questioned in proceedings this week.

'Unrestrained' Conduct

A trio of defence experts, maintain that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the lingering impact of a brain trauma, likely Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries shows disinhibited and socially inappropriate conduct, which is consistent with a range of dementia symptoms.

Reported incidents involve Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's professional psychologist a cunning bitch, remarking on her hair, telling another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and referring to his partner Smith as a dwarf, the court heard.

He was also taped in excruciating detail on around 20 prison calls discussing his travel itinerary for the near future, despite having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

The prosecution argue this indicates his recognition that he would go free if he was found unfit and the charges were dismissed.

In contrast, the defense's witnesses disagree, saying it instead points to that Jeffries fails to recall his court-ordered limits and the gravity of the charges.

"I didn't see the appropriate emotional response that I would expect someone to have who is facing such severe allegations," said one doctor who assessed Jeffries.

"Rather, his manner during the examination... was almost like we were having lunch at his country club. There was no indication of distress."

Conflicting Medical Opinions

Testimony indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration started in 2013, when imaging showed reduction in volume, which was exacerbated by a incident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 event and his records showed he kept on drinking subsequent to being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general intake had a decisive influence on his condition.

After the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and began hallucinating, with one incident in 2019 where he was found in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Experts from a treatment facility testified that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over an extended period in custody.

They say his mental faculties did not match Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be definitively confirmed until an examination could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is brighter and more capable intellectually than probably 95% of the individuals that we evaluate for fitness," stated one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the court, was described as lighthearted and fairly engaging during interactions in the facility, and was deliberately testing the limits, sometimes using informal address.

They assessed Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and indicated his performance on tests may have risen since 2023 from borderline or deficient to typical because of stopping drinking and improved medication management during his evaluation.

109 Jail Recordings Present Issues

Fundamental to determining fitness is whether Jeffries grasps the allegations against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial