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Former Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape saying to his UK-based partner that they are in serious trouble and in big trouble if he was deemed able to go to trial on trafficking allegations later this year, a New York federal court has heard.

The taped conversations were included in in excess of 100 phone calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith cited during a multi-day fitness to stand trial session on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team argue that he is coping with cognitive decline and the onset of Alzheimer's and is not competent to face trial next to his partner and their alleged facilitator in October.

However, government lawyers argue their medical experts found his mental state has improved and that the recordings demonstrate he is incredibly focused on being declared not competent.

In additional audio clips, Jeffries is heard saying he is wishing for a favorable ruling, characterizing being ruled able as a calamity, and says to a medical professional: you must declare me unfit, the judge heard.

Legal Process and Medical Testimony

The conversations were taped the previous year while he was being treated for a period of months in a psychiatric facility at a correctional institution in North Carolina to see if he could restore his faculties.

The octogenarian had earlier been ruled mentally incompetent last May but prison officials then stated in December that he was competent for proceedings subsequent to his hospital stay.

Prosecutors informed the court Jeffries often complained about incarceration and was caught on tape telling to Smith how awful jail was, adding: so we must pull this off.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their accused go-between James Jacobson, 73, were charged with orchestrating a global sex trafficking and commercial sex business in October 2024.

They have denied the charges, which carry a potential penalty of life imprisonment.

Their arrests came after an report that revealed the three had been at the core of a sophisticated scheme recruiting men for sex around the world while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after weighing the statements of several professionals - psychologists, doctors and medical experts, including facility doctors - who were cross-examined in proceedings this week.

'Disinhibited' Behaviour

Several defense witnesses, testify that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the after-effects of a brain trauma, suspected Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries shows socially inappropriate and socially inappropriate behavior, which is consistent with a range of cognitive symptoms.

Reported incidents are Jeffries calling the prosecutor's expert witness a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, informing another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and describing his partner Smith as a derogatory term, the court heard.

He was also recorded in great detail on about 20 recorded calls planning his trips abroad for the near future, despite having been on home confinement 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 go free if he was found incompetent and the charges were dropped.

However, the defense's expert witnesses have a different view, arguing it instead highlights that Jeffries fails to recall his court-ordered limits and the gravity of the case.

"I didn't see the normal emotional response that I would anticipate someone to have who is up against such severe allegations," stated one doctor who reviewed Jeffries.

"Rather, his manner throughout the examination... was as if we were having a meal at his club. There was no sense of distress."

Opposing Neurological Opinions

Testimony indicated there is data that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration commenced in 2013, when tests showed reduction in volume, which was accelerated by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 fall and his records showed he continued drinking subsequent to being hospitalized, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general intake had a significant effect on his condition.

After the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and began seeing things, with one event in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a nearby property.

Experts from a Federal Medical Center stated that Jeffries was competent after observing him over an extended period in prison.

They assert his intellectual functioning did not align with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be conclusively diagnosed until an examination could be performed.

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is sharper and more functioning intellectually than probably 95% of the individuals that we assess for fitness," testified one expert.

Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the court, was reported to be jovial and fairly engaging during evaluations in the facility, and was purposely pushing boundaries, at times using familiar language.

They assessed Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and suggested his performance on tests may have improved since 2023 from borderline or deficient to typical because of sobriety and improved management of prescriptions during his confinement.

109 Jail Recordings Present Concerns

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