Jail Phone Call Audio Spark Concerns About Former Abercrombie Executive's Ability for Court Proceedings

One-time Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his British partner how they were screwed and in grave danger if he was deemed fit to stand trial on human trafficking accusations this autumn, a New York federal court has learned.

The recordings were part of over 100 phone calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith referred to during a multi-day fitness to stand trial proceeding on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys contend that he is coping with cognitive decline and the onset of Alzheimer's and is not competent to stand trial together with his partner and their alleged facilitator in October.

However, the prosecution argue their doctors determined his condition has improved and that the recordings demonstrate he is remarkably focused on being found not competent.

In other audio clips, Jeffries says he is wishing for a positive result, characterizing being found fit as a disaster, and instructs a physician: you better declare me incompetent, the Central Islip court learned.

Court Process and Medical Evidence

The recordings were recorded the previous 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 recover fitness.

The 81-year-old had earlier been ruled mentally incompetent last May but prison officials then declared in December that he was competent for trial after his evaluation.

The prosecution told the court Jeffries frequently griped about life in jail and was heard describing to Smith how awful prison was, remarking: that's why we got to pull this off.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their alleged intermediary James Jacobson, 73, were charged with running a worldwide trafficking and prostitution enterprise in October 2024.

They have entered not guilty pleas the accusations, which have a potential penalty of life in prison.

Their being taken into custody came after an exposé that showed the three had been at the heart of a complex operation recruiting young men for sex globally while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after reviewing the evidence of several professionals - experts, psychiatrists and neurologists, including facility doctors - who were questioned in the courtroom during the hearing.

'Disinhibited' Behaviour

Three medical witnesses for the defense, testify that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the after-effects of a traumatic brain injury, probable Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries shows socially inappropriate and off-color behavior, which is part of a set of cognitive symptoms.

Instances are Jeffries calling the prosecutor's psychologist a derogatory term, praising her hair, informing another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and describing his partner Smith as a dwarf, the court heard.

He was also taped in excruciating detail on around 20 jail conversations discussing his international travel plans for the near future, notwithstanding having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

The prosecution suggest this shows his understanding that he would regain his freedom if he was declared incompetent and the indictment were dropped.

In contrast, the defence's medical experts counter, arguing it instead points to that Jeffries does not remember his conditions and the severity of the case.

"I didn't see the appropriate emotional response that I would expect someone to have who is confronting such serious allegations," testified one expert who evaluated Jeffries.

"On the contrary, his demeanor throughout the evaluation... was almost like we were having lunch at his home. There was no indication of anxiety."

Opposing Neurological Opinions

Evidence indicated there is data that Jeffries' mental decline started in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was exacerbated by a accident in 2018.

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

Following the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and started seeing things, with one incident in 2019 where he was discovered in his underwear, unable to move, in a neighbour's garden.

Medical professionals from a Federal Medical Center stated that Jeffries was fit after evaluating him over four months in custody.

They say his intellectual functioning were not consistent with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be definitively confirmed until an autopsy could be performed.

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has experienced... he still is sharper and more able cognitively than probably 95% of the individuals that we evaluate for fitness," stated one expert.

Jeffries, wearing a business attire in the hearing, was reported to be cheerful and quite personable during interactions in prison, and was purposely testing the limits, on occasion using informal address.

They assessed Jeffries with slight deficits and suggested his results may have improved since 2023 from low or deficient to normal because of stopping drinking and more consistent management of prescriptions during his confinement.

109 Recorded Conversations Present Issues

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