Correctional Facility Recorded Conversation Tapes Prompt Concerns Regarding Former Abercrombie Boss' Competency for Legal Case

Former A&F chief executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape saying to his British partner that they'd be finished and in grave danger if he was declared fit to face trial on trafficking allegations this autumn, a US district court has learned.

The taped conversations were among more than 100 phone calls between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith played during a lengthy legal competency session on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team assert that he is suffering with cognitive decline and the onset of Alzheimer's disease and is incapable to be tried together with his partner and their purported intermediary in October.

Nevertheless, government lawyers say their health professionals found his health has gotten better and that the conversations demonstrate he is incredibly focused on being ruled not competent.

In other recordings, Jeffries says he is wishing for a positive result, labeling being ruled able as a catastrophe, and tells a physician: you must declare me unfit, the court heard.

Legal Proceedings and Health Testimony

The recordings were made the previous year while he was being evaluated for four months in a psychiatric facility at a correctional institution in North Carolina to see if he could restore competency.

The 81-year-old had earlier been ruled legally unfit in May but correctional authorities then declared in December that he was able for proceedings after his evaluation.

The prosecution advised the court Jeffries frequently protested life in jail and was caught on tape explaining to Smith how terrible incarceration was, adding: that's why we have to succeed.

Context

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

They have pleaded not guilty the accusations, which could result in a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Their detentions came after an report that revealed the three had been at the centre of a complex scheme sourcing men for sex globally while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

The Honorable Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after weighing the statements of multiple specialists - forensic psychologists, specialists and medical experts, including correctional physicians - who were questioned in court during the hearing.

'Inappropriate' Behavior

Several defense witnesses, testify that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury, probable Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

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

Instances are Jeffries referring to the prosecution's psychologist a cunning bitch, praising her hair, informing another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a midget, they say.

He was also taped in minute detail on about 20 jail conversations discussing his trips abroad for the next few months, despite having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

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

Conversely, the defense's witnesses have a different view, stating it instead points to that Jeffries fails to recall his conditions and the severity of the case.

"There wasn't the appropriate affect that I would expect someone to have who is up against such grave allegations," stated one forensic psychiatrist who evaluated Jeffries.

"On the contrary, his behavior during the assessment... was as if we were having a meal at his club. There was no sign of alarm."

Diverging Psychiatric Diagnoses

Testimony indicated there is information 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 history showed he kept on drinking after being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall intake had a decisive influence on his health.

After the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and began having visions, with one incident in 2019 where he was located in his underwear, incapacitated, in a neighbour's garden.

Experts from a prison hospital stated that Jeffries was able after evaluating him over several months in custody.

They say his cognitive abilities did not match 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 experienced... he still is brighter and more functioning mentally than probably 95% of the patients that we test for fitness," stated one expert.

Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the courtroom, was described as lighthearted and quite engaging during evaluations in the facility, and was deliberately being provocative, at times using familiar language.

They assessed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and said his performance on tests may have risen since 2023 from low or deficient to average because of sobriety and improved medication management during his evaluation.

109 Jail Recordings Raise Issues

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