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Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was taped saying to his associate how they are finished and in deep trouble if he was found able to face trial on human trafficking charges this autumn, a US district court has heard.

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

Jeffries' legal team argue that he is battling dementia and late onset of Alzheimer's disease and is unfit to be tried together with his partner and their alleged intermediary in October.

However, the prosecution contend their medical experts concluded his health has stabilized and that the recordings show he is incredibly fixated on being found incompetent.

In other audio clips, Jeffries states he is wishing for a favorable ruling, describing being deemed competent as a catastrophe, and instructs a medical professional: you had better declare me unfit, the court heard.

Court Hearings and Health Testimony

The conversations were taped last year while he was being evaluated for a period of months in a psychiatric facility at a correctional institution in North Carolina to see if he could recover fitness.

The octogenarian had earlier been ruled mentally incompetent last May but facility staff then announced in December that he was fit for trial following his treatment period.

Government attorneys told the judge Jeffries often protested life in jail and was recorded telling to Smith how terrible prison was, stating: so we must make this work.

Context

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported middleman James Jacobson, 73, were accused 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 in prison.

Their being taken into custody came after an investigation that uncovered the group had been at the heart of a sophisticated scheme recruiting individuals for sex around the world while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

The Honorable Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after weighing the evidence of six experts - experts, doctors and medical experts, including correctional physicians - who were questioned in court this week.

'Inappropriate' Behavior

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

They stated that Jeffries demonstrates socially inappropriate and improper behaviour, which is symptomatic of a set of symptoms.

Instances are Jeffries calling the prosecution's psychologist a cunning bitch, remarking on her hair, telling another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and referring to his partner Smith as a derogatory term, according to testimony.

He was also recorded in minute detail on around 20 recorded calls talking about his trips abroad for the next few months, notwithstanding having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

Prosecutors argue this shows his awareness that he would go free if he was ruled unfit and the case were dropped.

In contrast, the defence's medical experts have a different view, saying it instead points to that Jeffries has forgotten his conditions and the severity of the case.

"He lacked the normal affect that I would anticipate someone to have who is up against such grave charges," said one expert who evaluated Jeffries.

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

Opposing Neurological Opinions

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

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the moment of the 2018 incident and his medical records showed he continued drinking following being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general alcohol consumption had a major impact on his condition.

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

Doctors from a prison hospital testified that Jeffries was competent after assessing him over several months in prison.

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

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has experienced... he still is more capable and more able intellectually than probably 95% of the patients that we assess for fitness," testified one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, dressed in a formal wear in the courtroom, was described as lighthearted and quite personable during evaluations in the facility, and was intentionally being provocative, at times using familiar terms.

They assessed Jeffries with slight deficits and said his results may have gotten better since 2023 from low or impaired to typical because of abstinence from alcohol and better management of prescriptions during his confinement.

109 Prison Calls Raise Concerns

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