Jail Phone Call Tapes Prompt Doubts Regarding Former Abercrombie CEO's Fitness for Trial

One-time the fashion retailer CEO Mike Jeffries was taped informing his associate how they'd be in serious trouble and in big trouble if he was declared able to go to trial on sex trafficking accusations later this year, a federal court in NY has been told.

The taped conversations were part of in excess of 100 recorded calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith referred to during a multi-day fitness to stand trial hearing recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team contend that he is battling cognitive decline and the onset of Alzheimer's disease and is not competent to be tried next to his partner and their purported middleman in October.

In contrast, the prosecution say their doctors found his condition has gotten better and that the recordings reveal he is incredibly preoccupied on being declared incompetent.

In other tapes, Jeffries is heard saying he is praying for a positive result, labeling being ruled able as a catastrophe, and tells a medical professional: you must rule me unfit, the judge heard.

Judicial Process and Medical Evidence

The recordings were made last year while he was being held for four months in a mental health unit at a US prison in North Carolina to assess if he could recover fitness.

The 81-year-old had in the past been deemed mentally incompetent previously but correctional authorities then declared in December that he was fit for trial following his evaluation.

Government attorneys told the court Jeffries repeatedly complained about prison conditions and was caught on tape telling to Smith how awful prison was, remarking: that's why we have to make this work.

Context

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported intermediary James Jacobson, 73, were accused with orchestrating a worldwide human trafficking and prostitution enterprise in October 2024.

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

Their detentions came after an report that uncovered the three had been at the centre of a complex operation scouting men for sex around the world while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after reviewing the evidence of six experts - psychologists, specialists and brain specialists, including prison doctors - who were examined in court recently.

'Unrestrained' Conduct

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

They said under oath that Jeffries exhibits disinhibited and improper conduct, which is symptomatic of a spectrum of symptoms.

Instances are Jeffries calling the prosecutor's expert witness a derogatory term, praising her hair, telling another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and referring to his partner Smith as a midget, they say.

He was also taped in great detail on about 20 jail conversations discussing his international travel plans for the coming months, despite having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

Prosecutors contend this demonstrates his awareness that he would go free if he was ruled incompetent and the case were dismissed.

Conversely, the defence's expert witnesses counter, saying it instead underscores that Jeffries fails to recall his conditions and the seriousness of the situation.

"I didn't see the expected affect that I would anticipate someone to have who is confronting such grave allegations," said one doctor who assessed Jeffries.

"Instead, his demeanor during the evaluation... was as if we were having a meal at his home. There was no indication of distress."

Diverging Medical Assessments

Evidence indicated there is data that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration commenced in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was accelerated by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the time of the 2018 fall and his history showed he kept on drinking after being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical intake had a major impact on his health.

Following the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and began seeing things, with one episode in 2019 where he was located in his underwear, incapacitated, in a nearby property.

Doctors from a treatment facility testified that Jeffries was able after observing him over an extended period in prison.

They contend his cognitive abilities did not align with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be absolutely determined until an examination could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is more capable and more capable mentally than probably 95% of the individuals that we test for competency," said one expert.

Jeffries, dressed in a formal wear in the court, was described as jovial and rather charismatic during meetings in the facility, and was deliberately testing the limits, on occasion using informal language.

They found Jeffries with slight deficits and said his results may have risen since 2023 from low or deficient to typical because of stopping drinking and improved management of prescriptions during his evaluation.

109 Prison Calls Raise Questions

Central to establishing competency is whether Jeffries understands the allegations against him, their penalties, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial