🔗 Share this article

Ex- A&F CEO Mike Jeffries was taped informing his British partner that they were finished and in deep trouble if he was found able to stand trial on sex trafficking allegations later this year, a US district court has learned.

The recordings were part of more than 100 recorded calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith referred to during a multi-day mental competency proceeding recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team assert that he is coping with dementia and the onset of the disease and is not competent to face trial together with his partner and their accused intermediary in October.

Nevertheless, prosecutors contend their doctors determined his condition has improved and that the recordings demonstrate he is extremely focused on being found not competent.

In other recordings, Jeffries states he is wishing for a favorable ruling, describing being found fit as a calamity, and says to a doctor: you had better rule me incompetent, the judge was told.

Judicial Proceedings and Psychiatric Evidence

The recordings were made the previous year while he was being evaluated for four months in a psychiatric facility at a US prison in North Carolina to determine if he could restore competency.

The elderly defendant had in the past been deemed not competent in May but correctional authorities then declared in December that he was fit for trial following his evaluation.

The prosecution informed the judge Jeffries frequently protested incarceration and was heard describing to Smith how terrible prison was, remarking: which is why we must make this work.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their accused middleman James Jacobson, 73, were charged with orchestrating a worldwide sex trafficking and prostitution business in October 2024.

They have entered not guilty pleas the charges, which could result in a maximum sentence of a life term.

Their arrests came after an investigation that showed the three had been at the core of a elaborate scheme scouting individuals for sex globally while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after reviewing the testimony of several professionals - experts, psychiatrists and brain specialists, including prison doctors - who were questioned in proceedings during the hearing.

'Unrestrained' Conduct

Three defence experts, argue that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury, probable Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries shows socially inappropriate and socially inappropriate behavior, which is consistent with a range of dementia symptoms.

Reported incidents are Jeffries calling the prosecution's professional psychologist a derogatory term, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and describing his partner Smith as a midget, they say.

He was also taped in minute detail on about 20 prison calls discussing his travel itinerary for the coming months, notwithstanding having been on house arrest since 2024.

"I can't go on trips without you," Jeffries was heard saying to Smith from jail.

Prosecutors contend this shows his recognition that he would go free if he was ruled unfit and the charges were dismissed.

Conversely, the defence's expert witnesses disagree, arguing it instead points to that Jeffries has forgotten his legal restrictions and the severity of the charges.

"There wasn't the appropriate emotional response that I would expect someone to have who is facing such serious charges," said one forensic psychiatrist who reviewed Jeffries.

"Instead, his behavior throughout the assessment... was almost like we were having a chat at his home. There was no indication of alarm."

Conflicting Medical Diagnoses

Evidence indicated there is information that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration started in 2013, when scans showed reduction in volume, which was accelerated by a incident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 event and his medical records showed he kept on drinking after being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical drinking had a major impact on his condition.

Following the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and began seeing things, with one episode in 2019 where he was found in his underclothes, immobile, in a neighbour's garden.

Doctors from a prison hospital testified that Jeffries was fit after evaluating him over four months in prison.

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

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has experienced... he still is brighter and more capable cognitively than probably 95% of the individuals that we assess for fitness," testified one doctor.

Jeffries, wearing a suit and tie in the hearing, was reported to be cheerful and quite engaging during interactions in prison, and was intentionally testing the limits, sometimes using disrespectful address.

They found Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and indicated his testing scores may have gotten better since 2023 from borderline or impaired to normal because of abstinence from alcohol and improved management of prescriptions during his stay.

109 Jail Recordings Prompt Issues

Fundamental to assessing competency is whether Jeffries comprehends the charges against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial