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Ex- Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his UK-based partner that they were screwed and in grave danger if he was deemed able to go to trial on trafficking allegations this autumn, a US district court has been told.

The recordings were among in excess of 100 telephone conversations between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith referred to during a lengthy legal competency hearing recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team assert that he is coping with dementia and late onset of Alzheimer's and is not competent to face trial next to his partner and their accused middleman in October.

Nevertheless, government lawyers contend their medical experts found his condition has improved and that the conversations demonstrate he is remarkably fixated on being found unfit.

In additional recordings, Jeffries states he is praying for a good outcome, characterizing being ruled able as a disaster, and says to a physician: you had better declare me unfit, the judge was told.

Judicial Hearings and Health Testimony

The conversations were made the previous year while he was being evaluated for a period of months in a treatment center at a US prison in North Carolina to determine if he could regain fitness.

The octogenarian had in the past been deemed mentally incompetent last May but facility staff then stated in December that he was competent for trial following his hospital stay.

Prosecutors told the judge Jeffries repeatedly protested incarceration and was heard describing to Smith how horrible incarceration was, stating: so we got to pull this off.

Context

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

They have denied the charges, which have a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Their detentions followed an investigation that uncovered the three had been at the centre of a complex scheme scouting individuals for sex globally while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after weighing the evidence of several professionals - experts, specialists and neurologists, including prison doctors - who were cross-examined in court this week.

'Inappropriate' Behaviour

Several medical witnesses for the defense, testify that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the after-effects of a traumatic brain injury, likely dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries exhibits socially inappropriate and improper behavior, which is symptomatic of a set of dementia symptoms.

Reported incidents involve Jeffries referring to the prosecution's expert witness a derogatory term, praising her hair, telling another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and describing his partner Smith as a dwarf, the court heard.

He was also heard in minute detail on around 20 recorded calls planning his international travel plans for the coming months, notwithstanding having been on house arrest since 2024.

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

The prosecution argue this shows his understanding that he would be released if he was found incompetent and the indictment were dismissed.

Conversely, the defense's medical experts have a different view, stating it instead underscores that Jeffries has forgotten his court-ordered limits and the severity of the charges.

"I didn't see the appropriate reaction that I would expect someone to have who is up against such serious charges," said one forensic psychiatrist who reviewed Jeffries.

"Rather, his behavior throughout the examination... was almost like we were having lunch at his club. There was no sign of alarm."

Opposing Neurological Opinions

Evidence indicated there is data that Jeffries' decline commenced in 2013, when scans showed reduction in volume, which was worsened by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the time of the 2018 event and his medical records showed he kept on drinking subsequent to being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical alcohol consumption had a major impact on his state.

Following the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and started having visions, with one episode in 2019 where he was discovered in his underwear, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Doctors from a Federal Medical Center stated that Jeffries was able after assessing him over several months in the facility.

They contend his cognitive abilities did not match Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be definitively confirmed until an examination could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is more capable and more functioning cognitively than probably 95% of the individuals that we assess for fitness," stated one expert.

Jeffries, wearing a suit and tie in the court, was described as lighthearted and quite personable during meetings in the facility, and was intentionally pushing boundaries, on occasion using informal terms.

They diagnosed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and said his testing scores may have risen since 2023 from borderline or deficient to typical because of sobriety and more consistent medication management during his confinement.

109 Jail Recordings Raise Issues

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