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Former A&F top executive Mike Jeffries was recorded informing his UK-based partner how they were in serious trouble and in deep trouble if he was found fit to stand trial on trafficking allegations in the coming months, a New York federal court has been told.

The recordings were included in over 100 recorded calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith cited during a four-day fitness to stand trial proceeding recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team assert that he is coping with cognitive decline and the onset of Alzheimer's disease and is not competent to face trial together with his partner and their alleged intermediary in October.

In contrast, prosecutors contend their health professionals concluded his condition has gotten better and that the recordings reveal he is extremely fixated on being found incompetent.

In other tapes, Jeffries states he is praying for a good outcome, labeling being ruled able as a calamity, and says to a doctor: you had better declare me unfit, the Central Islip court heard.

Court Process and Psychiatric Opinions

The conversations were made the previous year while he was being evaluated for several months in a psychiatric facility at a US prison in North Carolina to assess if he could recover fitness.

The octogenarian had earlier been ruled legally unfit last May but facility staff then stated in December that he was competent for trial after his evaluation.

Government attorneys advised the judge Jeffries repeatedly griped about incarceration and was heard explaining to Smith how awful incarceration was, remarking: so we have to succeed.

Background

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

They have denied the allegations, which could result in a potential penalty of life imprisonment.

Their arrests came after an investigation that revealed the three had been at the core of a sophisticated scheme sourcing individuals for sex around the world while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after weighing the evidence of six experts - experts, specialists and neurologists, including correctional physicians - who were cross-examined in proceedings this week.

'Unrestrained' Behaviour

Three defence experts, maintain that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the lingering impact of a traumatic brain injury, suspected dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They said under oath that Jeffries exhibits disinhibited and off-color behaviour, which is part of a set of dementia symptoms.

Instances include Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's expert witness a cunning bitch, remarking on her hair, informing another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a derogatory term, they say.

He was also taped in minute detail on around 20 jail conversations talking about his international travel plans for the next few months, despite having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

Prosecutors argue this demonstrates his recognition that he would regain his freedom if he was declared incompetent and the indictment were dismissed.

However, the defence's medical experts counter, saying it instead highlights that Jeffries has forgotten his conditions and the severity of the situation.

"He lacked the appropriate reaction that I would anticipate someone to have who is facing such serious allegations," stated one forensic psychiatrist who evaluated Jeffries.

"On the contrary, his demeanor during the evaluation... was similar to we were having lunch at his home. There was no sign of anxiety."

Conflicting Psychiatric Diagnoses

Testimony indicated there is information that Jeffries' mental decline commenced in 2013, when imaging showed reduction in volume, which was accelerated by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the time of the 2018 incident and his medical records showed he persisted in drinking subsequent to being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical alcohol consumption had a decisive influence on his state.

After the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and began seeing things, with one episode in 2019 where he was found in his underwear, incapacitated, in a neighbour's garden.

Medical professionals from a prison hospital said that Jeffries was able after assessing him over four months in prison.

They assert his mental faculties were not consistent with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be conclusively diagnosed until an post-mortem could be performed.

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is brighter and more capable mentally than probably 95% of the inmates that we test for fitness," testified one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, wearing a business attire in the courtroom, was reported to be jovial and quite engaging during meetings in prison, and was deliberately pushing boundaries, sometimes using familiar language.

They diagnosed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and said his results may have risen since 2023 from borderline or deficient to normal because of sobriety and improved medication management during his confinement.

109 Jail Recordings Raise Issues

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