Prison Recorded Conversation Audio Raise Concerns About Ex-Abercrombie Boss' Ability for Trial

Ex- the fashion retailer top executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape informing his associate that they were finished and in deep trouble if he was deemed able to face trial on sex trafficking allegations in the coming months, a US district court has been told.

The audio were part of in excess of 100 recorded calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith cited during a multi-day legal competency hearing this week on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys assert that he is suffering with dementia and late onset of the disease and is not competent to face trial alongside his partner and their purported intermediary in October.

In contrast, the prosecution argue their doctors found his condition has gotten better and that the conversations show he is remarkably preoccupied on being found incompetent.

In additional audio clips, Jeffries states he is hoping for a favorable ruling, describing being deemed competent as a disaster, and tells a doctor: you had better rule me incompetent, the judge was told.

Judicial Proceedings and Health Opinions

The conversations were taped in the past year while he was being held for several months in a mental health unit at a US prison in North Carolina to assess if he could regain fitness.

The 81-year-old had previously been found mentally incompetent in May but prison officials then stated in December that he was fit for trial after his hospital stay.

The prosecution advised the judge Jeffries repeatedly griped about prison conditions and was heard describing to Smith how awful jail was, stating: that's why we got to pull this off.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported middleman James Jacobson, 73, were charged with running a worldwide human trafficking and prostitution business in October 2024.

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

Their being taken into custody came after an investigation that revealed the group had been at the centre of a complex scheme recruiting men for sex globally while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after reviewing the testimony of multiple specialists - forensic psychologists, doctors and neurologists, including facility doctors - who were cross-examined in the courtroom during the hearing.

'Inappropriate' Behaviour

A trio of medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury, probable Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries demonstrates unfiltered and improper conduct, which is symptomatic of a range of dementia symptoms.

Instances involve Jeffries calling the prosecutor's expert witness a derogatory term, praising her hair, informing another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and describing his partner Smith as a derogatory term, they say.

He was also heard in great detail on approximately 20 prison calls talking about his international travel plans for the near future, despite having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

The prosecution contend this indicates his understanding that he would be released if he was declared incompetent and the charges were dropped.

Conversely, the defense's witnesses counter, stating it instead points to that Jeffries does not remember his legal restrictions and the seriousness of the charges.

"He lacked the appropriate reaction that I would expect someone to have who is up against such serious charges," testified one doctor who reviewed Jeffries.

"On the contrary, his behavior during the evaluation... was almost like we were having lunch at his country club. There was no sign of anxiety."

Diverging Medical Assessments

Evidence indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration began in 2013, when imaging showed brain shrinkage, which was accelerated by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the moment of the 2018 event and his history showed he continued drinking following being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general intake had a decisive influence on his state.

Following the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and started seeing things, with one episode in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, unable to move, in a neighbor's yard.

Experts from a prison hospital said that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over several months in custody.

They say his intellectual functioning did not match Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be absolutely determined until an examination could be performed.

"Even given the reduction that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is more capable and more able cognitively than probably 95% of the inmates that we evaluate for fitness," said one expert.

Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the court, was reported to be jovial and fairly personable during interactions in prison, and was deliberately testing the limits, on occasion using familiar terms.

They assessed Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and indicated his performance on tests may have gotten better since 2023 from borderline or deficient to typical because of sobriety and better medication management during his evaluation.

109 Jail Recordings Prompt Concerns

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