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Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his British partner how they'd be screwed and in big trouble if he was declared able to stand trial on sex trafficking allegations later this year, a US district court has heard.

The audio were included in more than 100 recorded calls between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith cited during a four-day fitness to stand trial hearing on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers argue that he is coping with cognitive decline and the onset of Alzheimer's disease and is not competent to be tried together with his partner and their purported middleman in October.

However, the prosecution contend their medical experts determined his condition has improved and that the recordings reveal he is incredibly fixated on being ruled not competent.

In further recordings, Jeffries states he is wishing for a favorable ruling, characterizing being found fit as a disaster, and says to a medical professional: you must declare me incompetent, the Central Islip court learned.

Legal Process and Medical Testimony

The conversations were recorded in the past year while he was being held for a period of months in a mental health unit at a correctional institution in North Carolina to determine if he could restore his faculties.

The elderly defendant had previously been found mentally incompetent in May but correctional authorities then announced in December that he was fit for proceedings subsequent to his evaluation.

The prosecution told the court Jeffries repeatedly protested incarceration and was recorded telling to Smith how awful prison was, stating: so we must pull this off.

Context

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

They have pleaded not guilty the charges, which have a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Their being taken into custody were prompted by an report that uncovered the trio had been at the centre of a sophisticated network sourcing men for sex globally while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.

The Honorable Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after reviewing the evidence of several professionals - psychologists, doctors and medical experts, including correctional physicians - who were cross-examined in proceedings this week.

'Unrestrained' Behaviour

Three defence experts, testify that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the residual effects of a brain trauma, likely Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They said under oath that Jeffries exhibits socially inappropriate and off-color behaviour, which is part of a spectrum of dementia symptoms.

Examples include Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's expert witness a derogatory term, remarking on her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and describing his partner Smith as a midget, 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, despite having been on house arrest since 2024.

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

Prosecutors contend this demonstrates his awareness that he would be released if he was ruled incompetent and the charges were dropped.

In contrast, the defence's witnesses have a different view, saying it instead underscores that Jeffries does not remember his conditions and the gravity of the situation.

"He lacked the expected affect that I would expect someone to have who is confronting such serious charges," said one doctor who evaluated Jeffries.

"Instead, his manner throughout the assessment... was similar to we were having a meal at his club. There was no sense of anxiety."

Diverging Neurological Opinions

Reports indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration commenced in 2013, when imaging showed reduction in volume, which was worsened by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 incident and his records showed he kept on drinking following being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general intake had a major impact on his condition.

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

Doctors from a treatment facility said that Jeffries was competent after assessing him over several months in the facility.

They assert his mental faculties did not match Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be definitively confirmed until an post-mortem could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is sharper and more able cognitively than probably 95% of the individuals that we assess for fitness," stated one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a formal wear in the court, was reported to be lighthearted and rather engaging during interactions in prison, and was deliberately pushing boundaries, sometimes using disrespectful address.

They found Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and indicated his results may have improved since 2023 from low or impaired to typical because of abstinence from alcohol and better medication management during his confinement.

109 Prison Calls Prompt Issues

Fundamental to establishing fitness is whether Jeffries understands the charges against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial