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One-time Abercrombie & Fitch top executive Mike Jeffries was taped saying to his UK-based partner how they were in serious trouble and in grave danger if he was declared able to go to trial on sex trafficking charges in the coming months, a New York federal court has learned.

The taped conversations were part of in excess of 100 telephone conversations between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith referred to during a lengthy legal competency hearing recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers contend that he is battling cognitive decline and late onset of the disease and is not competent to be tried alongside his partner and their purported intermediary in October.

Nevertheless, government lawyers argue their health professionals concluded his condition has stabilized and that the conversations demonstrate he is remarkably preoccupied on being ruled incompetent.

In further tapes, Jeffries says he is hoping for a favorable ruling, characterizing being found fit as a catastrophe, and tells a physician: you had better find me unfit, the Central Islip court was told.

Court Proceedings and Health Testimony

The recordings were made last year while he was being held for a period of months in a mental health unit at a US prison in North Carolina to assess if he could restore his faculties.

The octogenarian had previously been found mentally incompetent previously but prison officials then declared in December that he was competent for proceedings following his hospital stay.

Government attorneys told the court Jeffries repeatedly complained about prison conditions and was heard telling to Smith how awful prison was, stating: that's why we must succeed.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their alleged intermediary James Jacobson, 73, were accused with orchestrating a international sex trafficking and commercial sex operation in October 2024.

They have pleaded not guilty the allegations, which could result in a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Their being taken into custody came after an exposé that revealed the trio had been at the core of a complex operation sourcing men for sex globally while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after weighing the testimony of six experts - psychologists, specialists and brain specialists, including prison doctors - who were cross-examined in the courtroom recently.

'Unrestrained' Conduct

Several defense witnesses, argue that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the lingering impact of a traumatic brain injury, likely Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

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

Examples include Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's psychologist a derogatory term, praising her hair, informing another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a dwarf, they say.

He was also recorded in excruciating detail on around 20 recorded calls talking about his trips abroad for the near future, notwithstanding having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

The prosecution contend this shows his awareness that he would be released if he was found incompetent and the charges were dropped.

In contrast, the defense's witnesses counter, stating it instead underscores that Jeffries fails to recall his legal restrictions and the gravity of the case.

"I didn't see the appropriate emotional response that I would expect someone to have who is up against such severe charges," stated one forensic psychiatrist who assessed Jeffries.

"Instead, his behavior throughout the evaluation... was almost like we were having a meal at his home. There was no sign of alarm."

Diverging Medical Diagnoses

Evidence indicated there is information that Jeffries' mental decline began in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was worsened by a incident in 2018.

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the time of the 2018 fall and his history showed he continued drinking following being hospitalized, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall alcohol consumption had a major impact on his health.

After the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and started having visions, with one event in 2019 where he was discovered in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbour's garden.

Doctors from a Federal Medical Center testified that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over an extended period in the facility.

They say his intellectual functioning did not match 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 intellectually than probably 95% of the individuals that we assess for competency," testified one expert.

Jeffries, dressed in a formal wear in the hearing, was described as jovial and rather engaging during meetings in the facility, and was purposely testing the limits, on occasion using informal address.

They assessed Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and indicated his results may have gotten better since 2023 from low or deficient to average because of abstinence from alcohol and better medication management during his stay.

109 Jail Recordings Prompt Questions

Fundamental to determining fitness is whether Jeffries understands the charges against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial