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One-time A&F CEO Mike Jeffries was taped telling his associate that they'd be finished and in big trouble if he was deemed competent to go to trial on trafficking charges this autumn, a New York federal court has been told.

The audio were included in over 100 phone calls between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith referred to during a lengthy fitness to stand trial proceeding on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys argue that he is battling cognitive decline and the onset of the disease and is incapable to stand trial together with his partner and their purported intermediary in October.

However, the prosecution say their health professionals concluded his mental state has gotten better and that the recordings demonstrate he is remarkably preoccupied on being ruled not competent.

In other recordings, Jeffries is heard saying he is praying for a good outcome, describing being found fit as a catastrophe, and says to a physician: you must declare me incompetent, the Central Islip court was told.

Legal Process and Health Testimony

The recordings were made last year while he was being evaluated for several months in a psychiatric facility at a US prison in North Carolina to determine if he could recover fitness.

The 81-year-old had earlier been ruled not competent in May but prison officials then announced in December that he was fit for proceedings after his treatment period.

The prosecution advised the judge Jeffries often griped about prison conditions and was recorded explaining to Smith how terrible prison was, adding: so we have to pull this off.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported middleman James Jacobson, 73, were accused with operating a worldwide sex trafficking and prostitution enterprise in October 2024.

They have entered not guilty pleas the allegations, which have a potential penalty of life imprisonment.

Their arrests came after an report that uncovered the group had been at the heart of a sophisticated network sourcing young men for sex internationally while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after reviewing the statements of several professionals - experts, specialists and medical experts, including prison doctors - who were examined in court recently.

'Inappropriate' Conduct

A trio of defence experts, testify that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the lingering impact of a head injury, likely Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries shows disinhibited and improper behaviour, which is consistent with a spectrum of cognitive symptoms.

Examples include Jeffries calling the prosecution's psychologist a insult, remarking on her hair, informing another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a derogatory term, according to testimony.

He was also taped in minute detail on about 20 prison calls talking about his trips abroad for the near future, notwithstanding having been on house arrest since 2024.

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

The prosecution suggest this indicates his understanding that he would regain his freedom if he was declared incompetent and the indictment were dropped.

However, the defense's medical experts disagree, saying it instead points to that Jeffries does not remember his court-ordered limits and the gravity of the charges.

"There wasn't the normal reaction that I would expect someone to have who is confronting such severe charges," said one expert who reviewed Jeffries.

"Instead, his manner during the examination... was as if we were having lunch at his country club. There was no sign of distress."

Conflicting Neurological Diagnoses

Evidence indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' decline began in 2013, when tests showed brain shrinkage, which was accelerated by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the time of the 2018 incident and his history showed he persisted in drinking subsequent to being hospitalized, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall alcohol consumption had a decisive influence on his state.

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

Experts from a treatment facility testified that Jeffries was competent after assessing him over four months in the facility.

They assert his mental faculties were not consistent with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be absolutely determined until an post-mortem could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has experienced... he still is sharper and more capable mentally than probably 95% of the inmates that we test for fitness," said one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the court, was reported to be lighthearted and quite engaging during meetings in the facility, and was purposely being provocative, at times using informal language.

They found Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and said his results may have risen since 2023 from low or deficient to normal because of abstinence from alcohol and improved medication management during his confinement.

109 Recorded Conversations Raise Questions

Fundamental to establishing fitness is whether Jeffries grasps the allegations against him, their penalties, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial