🔗 Share this article

Ex- the fashion retailer chief executive Mike Jeffries was recorded informing his British partner that they are screwed and in grave danger if he was declared competent to face trial on trafficking charges later this year, a New York federal court has heard.

The recordings were part of in excess of 100 phone calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith cited during a lengthy fitness to stand trial hearing on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers argue that he is suffering with dementia and the onset of Alzheimer's and is not competent to face trial together with his partner and their alleged facilitator in October.

Nevertheless, the prosecution argue their doctors determined his condition has stabilized and that the calls demonstrate he is extremely preoccupied on being ruled unfit.

In other recordings, Jeffries says he is praying for a positive result, describing being ruled able as a calamity, and tells a doctor: you must declare me incompetent, the court learned.

Judicial Hearings and Psychiatric Testimony

The recordings were made in the past year while he was being evaluated for several months in a treatment center at a correctional institution in North Carolina to see if he could regain competency.

The octogenarian had in the past been deemed not competent last May but facility staff then stated in December that he was fit for proceedings subsequent to his hospital stay.

Government attorneys informed the judge Jeffries frequently complained about incarceration and was caught on tape describing to Smith how horrible incarceration was, adding: which is why we got to make this work.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported intermediary James Jacobson, 73, were charged with operating a worldwide trafficking and commercial sex business in October 2024.

They have denied the accusations, which could result in a potential penalty of life imprisonment.

Their arrests came after an exposé that revealed the three had been at the heart of a elaborate operation sourcing young men for sex globally while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after considering the evidence of several professionals - experts, psychiatrists and medical experts, including correctional physicians - who were questioned in the courtroom recently.

'Disinhibited' Behavior

Three defense witnesses, testify that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the lingering impact of a head injury, probable dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They said under oath that Jeffries demonstrates socially inappropriate and socially inappropriate conduct, which is part of a spectrum of cognitive symptoms.

Reported incidents include Jeffries calling the prosecution's expert witness a insult, praising her hair, informing another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a midget, according to testimony.

He was also taped in excruciating detail on around 20 prison calls discussing his trips abroad for the coming months, despite having been on house arrest since 2024.

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

Prosecutors suggest this shows his recognition that he would go free if he was declared incompetent and the indictment were dropped.

Conversely, the defence's witnesses counter, saying it instead points to that Jeffries fails to recall his court-ordered limits and the seriousness of the charges.

"He lacked the normal emotional response that I would anticipate someone to have who is up against such serious allegations," stated one doctor who assessed Jeffries.

"Instead, his manner during the assessment... was as if we were having lunch at his home. There was no indication of alarm."

Opposing Medical Assessments

Evidence indicated there is information that Jeffries' mental decline began in 2013, when scans showed brain shrinkage, which was worsened by a incident in 2018.

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the time of the 2018 event and his history showed he continued drinking following being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical intake had a significant effect on his condition.

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and started hallucinating, with one episode in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, unable to move, in a nearby property.

Experts from a prison hospital testified that Jeffries was fit after evaluating him over an extended period in prison.

They assert his intellectual functioning 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 experienced... he still is more capable and more capable mentally than probably 95% of the inmates that we evaluate for fitness," stated one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the hearing, was described as jovial and quite engaging during evaluations in the facility, and was intentionally pushing boundaries, at times using familiar language.

They diagnosed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and suggested his results may have risen since 2023 from low or deficient to normal because of sobriety and better medication management during his stay.

109 Jail Recordings Prompt Questions

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