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One-time Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive Mike Jeffries was taped informing his UK-based partner how they'd be finished and in deep trouble if he was declared fit to face trial on human trafficking allegations in the coming months, a US district court has been told.

The taped conversations were part of over 100 recorded calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith played during a lengthy fitness to stand trial hearing on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers assert that he is coping with cognitive decline and late onset of the disease and is not competent to face trial together with his partner and their purported intermediary in October.

In contrast, government lawyers contend their medical experts concluded his health has improved and that the recordings show he is incredibly fixated on being ruled not competent.

In further tapes, Jeffries states he is hoping for a positive result, characterizing being ruled able as a catastrophe, and says to a physician: you must rule me incompetent, the Central Islip court learned.

Court Proceedings and Psychiatric Opinions

The conversations were made in the past year while he was being evaluated for a period of months in a treatment center at a US prison in North Carolina to see if he could recover competency.

The 81-year-old had earlier been ruled not competent last May but prison officials then announced in December that he was able for trial subsequent to his hospital stay.

Prosecutors told the court Jeffries frequently complained about prison conditions and was heard telling to Smith how horrible prison was, remarking: that's why we have to succeed.

Context

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

They have entered not guilty pleas the charges, which could result in a maximum sentence of a life term.

Their detentions were prompted by an exposé that showed the trio had been at the core of a elaborate operation scouting young men for sex internationally while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after reviewing the statements of several professionals - forensic psychologists, psychiatrists and brain specialists, including facility doctors - who were examined in court recently.

'Unrestrained' Conduct

Three medical witnesses for the defense, testify that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the lingering impact of a traumatic brain injury, likely a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries exhibits disinhibited and socially inappropriate behaviour, which is consistent with a spectrum of cognitive symptoms.

Instances are Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's professional psychologist a derogatory term, praising her hair, informing another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and referring to his partner Smith as a derogatory term, they say.

He was also heard in minute detail on around 20 prison calls talking about his trips abroad for the near future, despite having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

The prosecution suggest this indicates his awareness that he would go free if he was found incompetent and the charges were dropped.

In contrast, the defence's medical experts counter, saying it instead points to that Jeffries fails to recall his court-ordered limits and the gravity of the charges.

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

"Instead, his demeanor during the evaluation... was as if we were having a chat at his home. There was no sense of distress."

Conflicting Neurological Assessments

Evidence indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' mental decline began in 2013, when scans showed mild atrophy, which was exacerbated by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 fall and his medical records showed he kept on drinking after being hospitalized, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall drinking had a decisive influence on his condition.

Following the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and began having visions, with one event in 2019 where he was found in his underclothes, unable to move, in a neighbor's yard.

Experts from a prison hospital testified that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over four months in prison.

They say his cognitive abilities were not consistent with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be definitively confirmed until an examination could be performed.

"Even given the reduction that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is sharper and more functioning intellectually than probably 95% of the inmates that we evaluate for fitness," stated one doctor.

Jeffries, wearing a formal wear in the court, was described as jovial and rather personable during evaluations in prison, and was deliberately pushing boundaries, at times using familiar address.

They diagnosed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and said his testing scores may have improved since 2023 from low or impaired to typical because of abstinence from alcohol and improved medication management during his stay.

109 Recorded Conversations Present Questions

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