Ex- A&F top executive Mike Jeffries was taped saying to his UK-based partner that they'd be finished and in big trouble if he was deemed competent to face trial on trafficking charges later this year, a federal court in NY has been told.
The recordings were included in over 100 recorded calls between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith referred to during a multi-day legal competency hearing recently on Long Island.
Jeffries' attorneys assert that he is coping with dementia and the onset of Alzheimer's and is not competent to stand trial together with his partner and their purported intermediary in October.
However, government lawyers contend their health professionals found his mental state has improved and that the conversations reveal he is extremely focused on being found unfit.
In other recordings, Jeffries is heard saying he is praying for a good outcome, labeling being found fit as a disaster, and instructs a physician: you better rule me incompetent, the court learned.
Court Hearings and Psychiatric Evidence
The conversations were recorded the previous year while he was being evaluated for a period of months in a psychiatric facility at a correctional institution in North Carolina to assess if he could restore fitness.
The elderly defendant had in the past been deemed not competent last May but correctional authorities then stated in December that he was able for proceedings subsequent to his evaluation.
The prosecution told the judge Jeffries repeatedly griped about life in jail and was caught on tape explaining to Smith how terrible jail was, adding: so we got to make this work.
Background
Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported go-between James Jacobson, 73, were accused with operating a worldwide trafficking and commercial sex business in October 2024.
They have entered not guilty pleas the allegations, which have a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Their arrests came after an report that uncovered the trio had been at the centre of a complex operation scouting individuals for sex around the world while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.
Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after considering the evidence of multiple specialists - psychologists, psychiatrists and medical experts, including facility doctors - who were examined in the courtroom this week.
'Inappropriate' Behavior
Three defence experts, testify that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the lingering impact of a traumatic brain injury, probable a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
They said under oath that Jeffries shows socially inappropriate and off-color conduct, which is consistent with a spectrum of dementia symptoms.
Examples are Jeffries referring to the prosecution's psychologist a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was badly made, and describing his partner Smith as a midget, they say.
He was also recorded in excruciating detail on about 20 jail conversations discussing his international travel plans for the near future, despite having been on house arrest since 2024.
"I don't want to go on trips without you," Jeffries was heard saying to Smith from jail.
The prosecution suggest this demonstrates his recognition that he would regain his freedom if he was ruled unfit and the charges were dismissed.
However, the defense's witnesses disagree, arguing it instead highlights that Jeffries does not remember his court-ordered limits and the seriousness of the situation.
"I didn't see the normal affect that I would anticipate someone to have who is up against such severe charges," testified one doctor who assessed Jeffries.
"Rather, his behavior throughout the evaluation... was almost like we were having a meal at his country club. There was no sense of distress."
Conflicting Psychiatric Assessments
Reports indicated there is data that Jeffries' mental decline began in 2013, when scans showed reduction in volume, which was accelerated by a accident in 2018.
Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 incident and his records showed he continued drinking after being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall alcohol consumption had a decisive influence on his health.
In the wake of the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and began seeing things, with one event in 2019 where he was found in his underwear, incapacitated, in a neighbour's garden.
Experts from a Federal Medical Center testified that Jeffries was able after evaluating him over several months in the facility.
They say his intellectual functioning were not consistent with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be conclusively diagnosed until an autopsy could be performed.
"Even given the reduction that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is more capable and more functioning cognitively than probably 95% of the inmates that we test for fitness," stated one expert.
Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the courtroom, was described as lighthearted and fairly engaging during meetings in prison, and was deliberately testing the limits, at times using informal language.
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 abstinence from alcohol and improved medication management during his confinement.
109 Prison Calls Prompt Questions
Central to establishing competency is whether Jeffries grasps the charges against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial
