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Ex- A&F chief executive Mike Jeffries was taped telling his UK-based partner that they are screwed and in big trouble if he was declared able to stand trial on trafficking allegations in the coming months, a US district court has been told.

The taped conversations were included in over 100 recorded calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith cited during a multi-day fitness to stand trial session recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys assert that he is coping with cognitive decline and late onset of Alzheimer's and is not competent to stand trial together with his partner and their purported intermediary in October.

Nevertheless, government lawyers contend their medical experts determined his health has gotten better and that the recordings demonstrate he is extremely focused on being ruled incompetent.

In additional tapes, Jeffries says he is wishing for a good outcome, characterizing being found fit as a disaster, and says to a physician: you had better declare me incompetent, the judge learned.

Legal Process and Psychiatric Opinions

The conversations were taped the previous year while he was being evaluated for a period of months in a treatment center at a federal prison in North Carolina to determine if he could regain competency.

The elderly defendant had in the past been deemed legally unfit previously but prison officials then declared in December that he was fit for proceedings following his evaluation.

The prosecution advised the judge Jeffries often griped about incarceration and was heard describing to Smith how awful incarceration was, adding: so we got to make this work.

Background

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

They have pleaded not guilty the allegations, which have a potential penalty of life in prison.

Their detentions were prompted by an exposé that uncovered the trio had been at the heart of a elaborate network recruiting young men for sex globally while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.

The Honorable Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after weighing the statements of multiple specialists - experts, specialists and medical experts, including correctional physicians - who were cross-examined in proceedings recently.

'Inappropriate' Behaviour

Three defence experts, maintain that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the after-effects of a head injury, likely Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They said under oath that Jeffries shows disinhibited and improper behavior, which is consistent with a spectrum of symptoms.

Instances involve Jeffries referring to the prosecution's professional psychologist a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, informing another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and referring to his partner Smith as a dwarf, according to testimony.

He was also heard in great detail on around 20 prison calls talking about his trips abroad for the coming 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 argue this indicates his awareness that he would go free if he was ruled unfit and the charges were dropped.

Conversely, the defence's expert witnesses disagree, arguing it instead underscores that Jeffries fails to recall his court-ordered limits and the severity of the situation.

"There wasn't the normal emotional response that I would expect someone to have who is facing such grave charges," said one forensic psychiatrist who evaluated Jeffries.

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

Opposing Medical Opinions

Evidence indicated there is information that Jeffries' mental decline started in 2013, when tests showed brain shrinkage, which was exacerbated by a incident in 2018.

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the time of the 2018 incident and his medical records showed he continued drinking following being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall intake had a significant effect on his state.

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and began hallucinating, with one incident in 2019 where he was discovered in his underwear, immobile, in a neighbor's yard.

Doctors from a prison hospital stated that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over an extended period in the facility.

They say 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 reduction that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is brighter and more capable mentally than probably 95% of the individuals that we evaluate for fitness," testified one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the hearing, was reported to be cheerful and fairly charismatic during meetings in the facility, and was purposely being provocative, sometimes using disrespectful address.

They found Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and suggested his testing scores may have gotten better since 2023 from low or impaired to normal because of abstinence from alcohol and better treatment during his confinement.

109 Jail Recordings Present Questions

Fundamental to determining fitness is whether Jeffries understands the allegations against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial