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Former Abercrombie & Fitch top executive Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his associate that they are finished and in deep trouble if he was deemed able to go to trial on trafficking charges later this year, a New York federal court has heard.

The recordings were part of more than 100 telephone conversations between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith cited during a lengthy mental competency session recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team argue that he is coping with dementia and late onset of the disease and is not competent to be tried together with his partner and their purported facilitator in October.

In contrast, government lawyers argue their medical experts concluded his health has improved and that the recordings reveal he is extremely focused on being found incompetent.

In other audio clips, Jeffries states he is hoping for a favorable ruling, labeling being found fit as a calamity, and says to a doctor: you better find me unfit, the judge was told.

Court Proceedings and Medical Opinions

The recordings were made last year while he was being treated for a period of months in a mental health unit at a US prison in North Carolina to assess if he could recover fitness.

The octogenarian had earlier been ruled legally unfit in May but correctional authorities then declared in December that he was fit for proceedings subsequent to his hospital stay.

Government attorneys told the court Jeffries often griped about incarceration and was recorded telling to Smith how awful jail was, adding: which is why we got to succeed.

Background

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

They have entered not guilty pleas the charges, which have a potential penalty of life in prison.

Their being taken into custody were prompted by an investigation that showed the three had been at the centre of a elaborate operation recruiting men for sex internationally while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after reviewing the evidence of six experts - experts, psychiatrists and medical experts, including facility doctors - who were examined in the courtroom recently.

'Unrestrained' Behaviour

Several medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the residual effects of a brain trauma, probable Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries demonstrates unfiltered and improper behavior, which is part of a set of dementia symptoms.

Examples are Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's professional psychologist a derogatory term, praising her hair, telling another expert his clothing was badly made, and referring to his partner Smith as a dwarf, according to testimony.

He was also recorded in minute detail on around 20 jail conversations discussing his travel itinerary for the near future, despite having been on restricted movement since 2024.

"I don'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 go free if he was declared unfit and the case were dropped.

In contrast, the defense's expert witnesses counter, stating it instead highlights that Jeffries has forgotten his conditions and the severity of the case.

"There wasn't the appropriate affect that I would anticipate someone to have who is confronting such serious charges," testified one forensic psychiatrist who evaluated Jeffries.

"Rather, his manner throughout the assessment... was almost like we were having a meal at his home. There was no sign of distress."

Opposing Medical Diagnoses

Evidence indicated there is data that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration began in 2013, when scans showed mild atrophy, which was exacerbated by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 incident and his history showed he persisted in drinking following being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical alcohol consumption had a major impact on his state.

After the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and began hallucinating, with one incident in 2019 where he was discovered in his underwear, incapacitated, in a neighbour's garden.

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

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

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is sharper and more functioning cognitively than probably 95% of the inmates that we assess for competency," said one doctor.

Jeffries, wearing a business attire in the hearing, was described as lighthearted and rather charismatic during meetings in prison, and was deliberately testing the limits, on occasion using familiar address.

They diagnosed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and indicated his performance on tests may have risen since 2023 from borderline or deficient to average because of abstinence from alcohol and improved medication management during his stay.

109 Prison Calls Present Concerns

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