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One-time Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his British partner how they'd be screwed and in deep trouble if he was declared competent to stand trial on sex trafficking allegations later this year, a New York federal court has heard.

The taped conversations were part of in excess of 100 phone calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith played during a four-day mental competency hearing this week on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team assert that he is suffering with dementia and the onset of the disease and is unfit to stand trial alongside his partner and their purported facilitator in October.

Nevertheless, prosecutors contend their doctors concluded his condition has stabilized and that the calls demonstrate he is remarkably focused on being declared unfit.

In further tapes, Jeffries states he is hoping for a favorable ruling, labeling being ruled able as a catastrophe, and instructs a medical professional: you must rule me incompetent, the court was told.

Judicial Hearings and Health Testimony

The conversations were taped last year while he was being treated for four months in a mental health unit at a federal prison in North Carolina to see if he could regain fitness.

The elderly defendant had in the past been deemed not competent last May but prison officials then stated in December that he was fit for proceedings following his evaluation.

Prosecutors informed the court Jeffries often protested prison conditions and was heard describing to Smith how horrible jail was, adding: so we must make this work.

Context

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported middleman James Jacobson, 73, were charged with orchestrating a worldwide human trafficking and commercial sex enterprise in October 2024.

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

Their detentions were prompted by an investigation that revealed the trio had been at the core of a sophisticated network 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 be tried after considering the evidence of six experts - forensic psychologists, specialists and neurologists, including facility doctors - who were examined in the courtroom recently.

'Unrestrained' Behaviour

Three defense witnesses, maintain that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the residual effects of a head injury, probable Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They said under oath that Jeffries shows socially inappropriate and off-color behavior, which is part of a range of symptoms.

Reported incidents are Jeffries calling the prosecution's psychologist a derogatory term, remarking on her hair, telling another expert his clothing was badly made, and describing his partner Smith as a dwarf, the court heard.

He was also heard in minute detail on approximately 20 jail conversations planning his international travel plans for the near future, even though having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

The prosecution contend this demonstrates his recognition that he would be released if he was declared unfit and the case were dropped.

Conversely, the defence's expert witnesses have a different view, stating it instead highlights that Jeffries does not remember his legal restrictions and the gravity of the charges.

"There wasn't the normal affect that I would expect someone to have who is facing such serious allegations," testified one forensic psychiatrist who reviewed Jeffries.

"Rather, his manner throughout the evaluation... was similar to we were having lunch at his club. There was no indication of anxiety."

Diverging Neurological Assessments

Evidence indicated there is information that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration commenced in 2013, when imaging showed brain shrinkage, which was worsened by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the time of the 2018 fall and his records showed he continued drinking following being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall intake had a significant effect on his state.

Following the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and began having visions, with one incident in 2019 where he was located in his underwear, incapacitated, in a neighbour's garden.

Medical professionals from a Federal Medical Center stated that Jeffries was fit after observing him over several months in custody.

They assert 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 declines that Mr Jeffries has experienced... he still is brighter and more capable cognitively than probably 95% of the patients that we test for competency," said one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the courtroom, was described as lighthearted and fairly personable during meetings in the facility, and was purposely pushing boundaries, sometimes using disrespectful address.

They assessed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and indicated his results may have gotten better since 2023 from low or deficient to average because of sobriety and better medication management during his confinement.

109 Prison Calls Prompt Issues

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