Prison Conversations Challenge Ex-Abercrombie CEO's Competency for Trial
Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his British partner we're screwed and in big trouble if he was found fit to stand trial on sex trafficking charges later this year, a New York federal court has heard.
The audio was part of more than 100 phone calls between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith referred to during a four-day mental competency hearing this week on Long Island.
Jeffries' lawyers argue that he is suffering with dementia and late onset of Alzheimer's disease and is unfit to face trial alongside his partner and their alleged middleman in October. However, prosecutors say their medical experts found his condition has improved and that the calls reveal he is incredibly focused on being found incompetent.
In further recordings, Jeffries says he is hoping for a good outcome, describing being found fit as a disaster, and tells a doctor: you better find me incompetent, Central Islip court heard.
The calls were recorded last year while he was being treated for four months in a mental health unit at a federal prison in North Carolina to see if he could regain competency.
The 81-year-old had previously been found mentally incompetent last May but prison officials then declared in December that he was fit for trial following his hospital stay.
Prosecutors told the court Jeffries frequently complained about prison conditions and was caught on tape describing to Smith how horrible jail was, adding: that's why we got to pull this off.
Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their alleged middleman James Jacobson, 73, were charged with running a global sex trafficking and prostitution business in October 2024. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after considering the testimony of six experts - forensic psychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists, including prison doctors - who were cross-examined in court this week.
'Disinhibited' behaviour
Three defence experts, Dr. Jacqueline C. Valdes, Dr. Alexander Bardey, and Dr. Miranda Rosenberg, maintain that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury, probable Lewy body dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. They testified that Jeffries demonstrates disinhibited and socially inappropriate behaviour, which is part of a range of dementia symptoms, the court heard.
Examples include Jeffries calling the prosecutor's professional psychologist a cunning bitch and complimenting her hair, telling Bardey his clothing was poorly tailored, and describing his partner Smith as a dwarf, they say.
Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the time of the 2018 incident and his medical records showed that he continued to drink after being hospitalized. However, Bardey told the judge he did not think his general alcohol consumption had a significant effect on his condition.
Prosecutors argue that his 109 prison phone calls to Smith last year, comprising over 22 hours of audio, along with his recorded evaluation with the defence experts from January this year, tell a different story. Jeffries is heard discussing possible defense strategies, such as discrediting witnesses, highlighting his awareness and understanding of his legal situation.
Jury selection is currently scheduled for 26 October, and a trial is expected to continue with Smith and their alleged middleman Jacobson, even if Jeffries is ruled incompetent. Last year, a court ruled that Abercrombie & Fitch must pay for Jeffries' criminal defense bill - a figure lawyers say is likely to run into millions - as a result of an indemnification agreement he signed while stepping down as chief executive in 2014.
