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Ex- Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his British partner how they'd be screwed and in big trouble if he was found competent to go to trial on sex trafficking allegations later this year, a New York federal court has heard.

The taped conversations were part of in excess of 100 telephone conversations between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith cited during a four-day mental competency proceeding on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys assert that he is battling cognitive decline and the onset of Alzheimer's and is incapable to be tried next to his partner and their alleged facilitator in October.

However, the prosecution argue their doctors found his condition has improved and that the recordings show he is incredibly focused on being found incompetent.

In other audio clips, Jeffries states he is hoping for a positive result, labeling being found fit as a calamity, and tells a physician: you must find me incompetent, the Central Islip court was told.

Legal Proceedings and Medical Testimony

The recordings were recorded the previous year while he was being held for a period of months in a psychiatric facility at a US prison in North Carolina to determine if he could regain fitness.

The octogenarian had earlier been ruled legally unfit last May but correctional authorities then declared in December that he was able for proceedings after his hospital stay.

Government attorneys advised the court Jeffries repeatedly complained about life in jail and was heard telling to Smith how horrible incarceration was, adding: so we must make this work.

Background

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

They have pleaded not guilty the accusations, which have a potential penalty of life imprisonment.

Their arrests followed an exposé that revealed the three had been at the centre of a sophisticated scheme scouting young men for sex internationally 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 considering the testimony of multiple specialists - experts, doctors and medical experts, including facility doctors - who were examined in proceedings this week.

'Disinhibited' Behavior

A trio of defence experts, maintain that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the after-effects of a head injury, likely a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They said under oath that Jeffries exhibits disinhibited and socially inappropriate conduct, which is consistent with a range of symptoms.

Instances involve Jeffries calling the prosecution's professional psychologist a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and referring to his partner Smith as a derogatory term, the court heard.

He was also recorded in minute detail on around 20 prison calls talking about his travel itinerary for the near future, notwithstanding having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

Prosecutors contend this demonstrates his awareness that he would go free if he was declared unfit and the charges were dropped.

In contrast, the defense's expert witnesses have a different view, stating it instead highlights that Jeffries has forgotten his conditions and the seriousness of the case.

"He lacked the appropriate reaction that I would anticipate someone to have who is facing such severe charges," stated one doctor who evaluated Jeffries.

"Instead, his demeanor during the examination... was as if we were having lunch at his country club. There was no sense of alarm."

Diverging Medical Diagnoses

Reports indicated there is information that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration began in 2013, when tests showed brain shrinkage, which was accelerated by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 fall and his history 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 state.

After the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and started having visions, with one event in 2019 where he was found in his underclothes, unable to move, in a nearby property.

Doctors from a prison hospital said that Jeffries was fit after observing him over four months in custody.

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

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has experienced... he still is more capable and more capable intellectually than probably 95% of the patients that we assess for competency," said one expert.

Jeffries, wearing a formal wear in the court, was reported to be cheerful and rather personable during evaluations in prison, and was intentionally being provocative, sometimes using disrespectful address.

They found Jeffries with slight deficits and said his results may have gotten better since 2023 from low or deficient to typical because of abstinence from alcohol and better treatment during his confinement.

109 Recorded Conversations Prompt Questions

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