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Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his associate how they'd be in serious trouble and in big trouble if he was declared able to stand trial on sex trafficking accusations in the coming months, a New York federal court has been told.

The audio were among over 100 phone calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith referred to during a lengthy fitness to stand trial session on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys contend that he is suffering with cognitive decline and late onset of Alzheimer's disease and is not competent to face trial next to his partner and their accused intermediary in October.

Nevertheless, the prosecution argue their medical experts concluded his condition has stabilized and that the recordings show he is incredibly preoccupied on being declared unfit.

In other audio clips, Jeffries says he is praying for a positive result, describing being deemed competent as a calamity, and tells a physician: you better declare me incompetent, the court learned.

Court Hearings and Health Testimony

The conversations were recorded in the past year while he was being evaluated for several months in a psychiatric facility at a correctional institution in North Carolina to assess if he could recover fitness.

The elderly defendant had in the past been deemed mentally incompetent previously but facility staff then stated in December that he was able for proceedings after his evaluation.

Government attorneys informed the judge Jeffries often griped about incarceration and was heard describing to Smith how terrible incarceration was, adding: which is why we got to pull this off.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported intermediary James Jacobson, 73, were charged with running a worldwide trafficking and prostitution enterprise in October 2024.

They have denied the accusations, which have a potential penalty of a life term.

Their arrests came after an exposé that showed the three had been at the centre of a sophisticated scheme sourcing young men for sex globally while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

The Honorable Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after reviewing the testimony of several professionals - forensic psychologists, specialists and brain specialists, including correctional physicians - who were questioned in the courtroom recently.

'Unrestrained' Behavior

Several medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the residual effects of a brain trauma, probable dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries exhibits socially inappropriate and socially inappropriate behaviour, which is symptomatic of a spectrum of cognitive symptoms.

Examples involve Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's expert witness a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, informing another expert his clothing was badly made, and describing his partner Smith as a dwarf, according to testimony.

He was also taped in great detail on approximately 20 jail conversations talking about his travel itinerary for the next few months, even though having been on restricted movement since 2024.

"I wouldn't want to go on trips without you," Jeffries was heard telling Smith from jail.

Prosecutors suggest this shows his awareness that he would regain his freedom if he was declared unfit and the indictment were dismissed.

However, the defence's witnesses counter, stating it instead underscores that Jeffries has forgotten his court-ordered limits and the severity of the situation.

"He lacked the normal reaction that I would expect someone to have who is confronting such severe allegations," stated one doctor who evaluated Jeffries.

"Rather, his demeanor throughout the assessment... was as if we were having lunch at his home. There was no sign of anxiety."

Opposing Neurological Diagnoses

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

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the moment of the 2018 incident and his medical records showed he continued drinking following being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general drinking had a decisive influence on his condition.

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and began seeing things, with one episode in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Medical professionals from a prison hospital said that Jeffries was competent after assessing him over several months in custody.

They say his mental faculties were not consistent with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be conclusively diagnosed until an post-mortem could be performed.

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

Jeffries, dressed in a formal wear in the hearing, was reported to be jovial and rather personable during interactions in prison, and was purposely testing the limits, on occasion using familiar language.

They found Jeffries with slight deficits and suggested his results may have gotten better since 2023 from low or deficient to average because of abstinence from alcohol and improved management of prescriptions during his stay.

109 Jail Recordings Prompt Issues

Central to assessing fitness is whether Jeffries understands the charges against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial