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Former A&F chief executive Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his British partner that they'd be finished and in big trouble if he was declared able to go to trial on trafficking allegations in the coming months, a federal court in NY has been told.

The recordings were among over 100 phone calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith referred to during a lengthy fitness to stand trial proceeding recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys contend 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 facilitator in October.

Nevertheless, government lawyers contend their medical experts concluded his mental state has improved and that the calls show he is remarkably preoccupied on being ruled not competent.

In further recordings, Jeffries says he is hoping for a positive result, characterizing being found fit as a disaster, and tells a physician: you had better find me unfit, the judge was told.

Judicial Hearings and Health Opinions

The calls were made in the past year while he was being evaluated for several months in a treatment center at a correctional institution in North Carolina to see if he could restore fitness.

The elderly defendant had in the past been deemed not competent previously but prison officials then declared in December that he was able for proceedings after his hospital stay.

The prosecution told the judge Jeffries frequently protested incarceration and was caught on tape describing to Smith how terrible prison was, stating: so we got to succeed.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their accused go-between James Jacobson, 73, were indicted with operating a worldwide human trafficking and prostitution enterprise in October 2024.

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

Their arrests were prompted by an investigation that uncovered the three had been at the centre of a elaborate network recruiting men for sex internationally while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after weighing the statements of several professionals - experts, psychiatrists and brain specialists, including facility doctors - who were cross-examined in proceedings recently.

'Inappropriate' Conduct

A trio of medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the after-effects of a brain trauma, likely a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries demonstrates disinhibited and off-color conduct, which is part of a spectrum of dementia symptoms.

Examples are Jeffries calling the prosecutor's professional psychologist a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and describing his partner Smith as a dwarf, according to testimony.

He was also heard in excruciating detail on around 20 jail conversations talking about his travel itinerary for the next few months, even though having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

Prosecutors suggest this shows his awareness that he would go free if he was found incompetent and the charges were dismissed.

In contrast, the defense's expert witnesses disagree, arguing it instead underscores that Jeffries fails to recall his legal restrictions and the gravity of the situation.

"There wasn't the appropriate reaction that I would expect someone to have who is up against such serious charges," stated one doctor who evaluated Jeffries.

"Instead, his behavior throughout the assessment... was similar to we were having a meal at his country club. There was no sense of alarm."

Conflicting Medical Assessments

Reports indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' mental decline began in 2013, when imaging showed brain shrinkage, which was accelerated by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the time of the 2018 event and his records showed he continued drinking following being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general alcohol consumption had a decisive influence on his health.

Following the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and started having visions, with one episode in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Experts from a Federal Medical Center said that Jeffries was competent after observing him over several months in the facility.

They contend his mental faculties were not consistent with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be definitively confirmed until an autopsy could be performed.

"Even given the reduction that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is more capable and more capable cognitively than probably 95% of the individuals that we evaluate for competency," said one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the court, was reported to be lighthearted and rather charismatic during meetings in prison, and was deliberately being provocative, sometimes using informal terms.

They assessed Jeffries with slight deficits and indicated his performance on tests may have risen since 2023 from low or impaired to typical because of abstinence from alcohol and improved medication management during his evaluation.

109 Recorded Conversations Raise Concerns

Central to assessing competency is whether Jeffries grasps the charges against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial