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Former Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape saying to his UK-based partner how they'd be screwed and in deep trouble if he was found fit to face trial on sex trafficking charges this autumn, a federal court in NY has been told.

The audio were part of more than 100 recorded calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith referred to during a lengthy legal competency proceeding this week on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team contend that he is suffering with cognitive decline and the onset of the disease and is not competent to stand trial alongside his partner and their purported middleman in October.

Nevertheless, government lawyers say their doctors determined his condition has improved and that the recordings reveal he is remarkably fixated on being declared unfit.

In further audio clips, Jeffries is heard saying he is hoping for a good outcome, labeling being deemed competent as a catastrophe, and instructs a physician: you must rule me incompetent, the judge was told.

Legal Process and Medical Evidence

The recordings were taped in the past year while he was being held for several months in a psychiatric facility at a correctional institution in North Carolina to see if he could restore his faculties.

The octogenarian had earlier been ruled mentally incompetent in May but facility staff then declared in December that he was able for trial subsequent to his treatment period.

The prosecution informed the judge Jeffries repeatedly complained about life in jail and was caught on tape explaining to Smith how awful jail was, remarking: that's why we got to make this work.

The Case

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

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

Their detentions came after an exposé that showed the group had been at the core of a sophisticated network scouting young men for sex around the world while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after weighing the testimony of several professionals - forensic psychologists, specialists and neurologists, including facility doctors - who were questioned in court this week.

'Unrestrained' Behaviour

Three defence experts, argue that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the lingering impact of a head injury, probable a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries demonstrates socially inappropriate and socially inappropriate behavior, which is symptomatic of a range of dementia symptoms.

Examples are Jeffries calling the prosecutor's psychologist a insult, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a midget, they say.

He was also heard in excruciating detail on around 20 prison calls talking about his travel itinerary for the next few months, despite having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

Prosecutors contend this shows his recognition that he would go free if he was declared incompetent and the case were dismissed.

Conversely, the defense's witnesses disagree, arguing it instead points to that Jeffries fails to recall his conditions and the severity of the situation.

"He lacked the normal reaction that I would expect someone to have who is up against such grave charges," said one forensic psychiatrist who reviewed Jeffries.

"Rather, his manner during the examination... was as if we were having a meal at his club. There was no indication of distress."

Conflicting Neurological Assessments

Evidence indicated there is data that Jeffries' mental decline began in 2013, when imaging showed reduction in volume, which was exacerbated by a incident in 2018.

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the moment of the 2018 fall and his records showed he persisted in drinking subsequent to being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall alcohol consumption had a major impact on his state.

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and began having visions, with one episode in 2019 where he was found in his underwear, immobile, in a neighbour's garden.

Doctors from a prison hospital said that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over an extended period in custody.

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

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is sharper and more capable intellectually than probably 95% of the inmates that we test for fitness," testified one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, dressed in a formal wear in the hearing, was described as lighthearted and rather personable during interactions in the facility, and was purposely being provocative, sometimes using disrespectful language.

They found Jeffries with slight deficits and said his testing scores may have gotten better since 2023 from borderline or deficient to average because of stopping drinking and improved medication management during his stay.

109 Prison Calls Prompt Issues

Central to establishing competency is whether Jeffries understands the allegations against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial