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Former Abercrombie & Fitch top executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape telling his associate how they are screwed and in big trouble if he was deemed able to go to trial on human trafficking charges this autumn, a federal court in NY has been told.

The audio were among over 100 phone calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith referred to during a multi-day legal competency hearing on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers argue that he is suffering with cognitive decline and the onset of the disease and is unfit to stand trial alongside his partner and their alleged facilitator in October.

Nevertheless, the prosecution contend their doctors determined his health has improved and that the calls reveal he is extremely focused on being declared incompetent.

In additional recordings, Jeffries states he is praying for a positive result, labeling being ruled able as a catastrophe, and says to a doctor: you must find me incompetent, the Central Islip court was told.

Judicial Proceedings and Medical Opinions

The recordings were recorded the previous year while he was being held for four months in a mental health unit at a correctional institution in North Carolina to see if he could regain competency.

The elderly defendant had earlier been ruled not competent last May but correctional authorities then announced in December that he was competent for trial subsequent to his hospital stay.

The prosecution told the court Jeffries often complained about incarceration and was caught on tape describing to Smith how awful prison was, adding: which is why we have to pull this off.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their alleged go-between James Jacobson, 73, were accused with running a global trafficking and prostitution operation in October 2024.

They have entered not guilty pleas the allegations, which carry a potential penalty of a life term.

Their detentions followed an exposé that uncovered the group had been at the core of a sophisticated operation sourcing young men for sex globally while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after weighing the statements of several professionals - forensic psychologists, doctors and neurologists, including facility doctors - who were cross-examined in the courtroom this week.

'Inappropriate' Conduct

A trio of defence experts, testify that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the lingering impact of a brain trauma, suspected Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries demonstrates unfiltered and off-color conduct, which is part of a set of symptoms.

Examples are Jeffries calling the prosecution's psychologist a derogatory term, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and describing his partner Smith as a derogatory term, the court heard.

He was also recorded in minute detail on approximately 20 prison calls planning his travel itinerary for the next few months, despite having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

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

However, the defense's medical experts counter, saying it instead highlights that Jeffries does not remember his court-ordered limits and the seriousness of the charges.

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

"On the contrary, his manner throughout the evaluation... was as if we were having a meal at his home. There was no sign of distress."

Diverging Psychiatric Assessments

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

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the moment of the 2018 incident and his records showed he continued drinking subsequent to being hospitalized, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general intake had a major impact on his health.

Following the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and started seeing things, with one incident in 2019 where he was found in his underwear, unable to move, in a nearby property.

Experts from a Federal Medical Center stated that Jeffries was fit after evaluating him over four months in the facility.

They assert his mental faculties did not align with 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 capable mentally than probably 95% of the inmates that we test for competency," stated one doctor.

Jeffries, wearing a business attire in the hearing, was described as jovial and quite engaging during evaluations in the facility, and was purposely testing the limits, at times using disrespectful address.

They assessed Jeffries with slight deficits and said his testing scores may have gotten better since 2023 from low or impaired to normal because of stopping drinking and better treatment during his stay.

109 Prison Calls Present Questions

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