🔗 Share this article

One-time A&F CEO Mike Jeffries was heard on tape saying to his associate that they'd be in serious trouble and in big trouble if he was deemed able to go to trial on human trafficking charges in the coming months, a New York federal court has learned.

The audio were part of more than 100 telephone conversations between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith played during a four-day mental competency hearing 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 together with his partner and their purported middleman in October.

In contrast, government lawyers say their health professionals determined his health has improved and that the recordings demonstrate he is incredibly fixated on being ruled not competent.

In other audio clips, Jeffries is heard saying he is hoping for a positive result, characterizing being deemed competent as a calamity, and instructs a medical professional: you better declare me unfit, the judge heard.

Legal Process and Health Evidence

The calls were made last year while he was being evaluated for four months in a treatment center at a correctional institution in North Carolina to assess if he could regain competency.

The elderly defendant had in the past been deemed mentally incompetent in May but prison officials then stated in December that he was able for proceedings following his hospital stay.

Government attorneys advised the court Jeffries often complained about incarceration and was caught on tape telling to Smith how horrible incarceration was, adding: so we must make this work.

Context

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported intermediary James Jacobson, 73, were charged with orchestrating a global trafficking and prostitution business in October 2024.

They have pleaded not guilty the allegations, which could result in a maximum sentence of a life term.

Their arrests followed an exposé that revealed the group had been at the centre of a sophisticated operation sourcing individuals for sex globally while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after weighing the testimony of six experts - forensic psychologists, doctors and neurologists, including facility doctors - who were examined in court this week.

'Unrestrained' Conduct

Several medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the lingering impact of a traumatic brain injury, suspected a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries exhibits unfiltered and socially inappropriate behaviour, which is symptomatic of a range of cognitive symptoms.

Instances are Jeffries calling the prosecutor's psychologist a insult, praising her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a midget, according to testimony.

He was also taped in minute detail on about 20 jail conversations planning his travel itinerary for the next few 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 suggest this shows his awareness that he would go free if he was found incompetent and the indictment were dismissed.

However, the defence's medical experts counter, stating it instead underscores that Jeffries fails to recall his legal restrictions and the seriousness of the charges.

"There wasn't the normal affect that I would anticipate someone to have who is facing such severe charges," testified one doctor who evaluated Jeffries.

"Instead, his demeanor throughout the examination... was as if we were having a chat at his club. There was no sense of anxiety."

Opposing Psychiatric Assessments

Evidence indicated there is information that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration began in 2013, when tests showed reduction in volume, which was exacerbated by a accident in 2018.

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

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and started having visions, with one incident in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, unable to move, in a nearby property.

Experts from a Federal Medical Center said that Jeffries was fit after assessing him over several months in the facility.

They contend his intellectual functioning 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 brighter and more capable cognitively than probably 95% of the patients that we assess for fitness," said one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the hearing, was described as lighthearted and quite personable during interactions in the facility, and was deliberately being provocative, sometimes using familiar language.

They diagnosed Jeffries with slight deficits and said his testing scores may have risen since 2023 from borderline or impaired to typical because of sobriety and more consistent medication management during his confinement.

109 Recorded Conversations Raise Issues

Central to establishing competency is whether Jeffries comprehends the charges against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial