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Former A&F top executive Mike Jeffries was taped saying to his British partner how they are finished and in deep trouble if he was found able to go to trial on trafficking accusations in the coming months, a New York federal court has learned.

The recordings were part of more than 100 telephone conversations between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith cited during a four-day mental competency proceeding this week on Long Island.

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

Nevertheless, prosecutors argue their doctors found his condition has gotten better and that the calls demonstrate he is incredibly fixated on being declared unfit.

In additional recordings, Jeffries says he is hoping for a favorable ruling, describing being ruled able as a disaster, and tells a doctor: you must rule me incompetent, the judge learned.

Court Hearings and Psychiatric Evidence

The conversations were taped the previous year while he was being held for several months in a psychiatric facility at a US prison in North Carolina to see if he could restore competency.

The elderly defendant had previously been found not competent previously but facility staff then stated in December that he was fit for proceedings following his evaluation.

The prosecution told the judge Jeffries frequently protested life in jail and was heard telling to Smith how awful incarceration was, adding: so we got to pull this off.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported intermediary James Jacobson, 73, were indicted with operating a international trafficking and commercial sex operation in October 2024.

They have denied the accusations, which could result in a potential penalty of a life term.

Their arrests came after an investigation that revealed the trio had been at the core of a sophisticated operation scouting individuals for sex globally while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

The Honorable Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after reviewing the evidence of several professionals - experts, doctors and neurologists, including correctional physicians - who were examined in court during the hearing.

'Inappropriate' Behavior

A trio of defense witnesses, maintain that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the lingering impact of a head injury, suspected dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries demonstrates unfiltered and socially inappropriate behavior, which is part of a spectrum of cognitive symptoms.

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

He was also taped in minute detail on approximately 20 jail conversations discussing his travel itinerary for the coming months, notwithstanding having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

The prosecution argue this indicates his understanding that he would regain his freedom if he was declared unfit and the charges were dismissed.

In contrast, the defense's medical experts have a different view, stating it instead highlights that Jeffries does not remember his legal restrictions and the gravity of the situation.

"There wasn't the appropriate reaction that I would expect someone to have who is facing such grave charges," stated one doctor who evaluated Jeffries.

"Rather, his behavior throughout the examination... was as if we were having lunch at his country club. There was no sign of anxiety."

Diverging Medical Assessments

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

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the moment of the 2018 fall and his medical records showed he continued drinking subsequent to being hospitalized, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general alcohol consumption had a decisive influence on his health.

Following the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and started hallucinating, with one event in 2019 where he was found in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Medical professionals from a prison hospital said that Jeffries was competent after assessing him over four months in prison.

They say his intellectual functioning were not consistent with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be conclusively diagnosed until an autopsy could be performed.

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has experienced... he still is sharper and more functioning cognitively than probably 95% of the inmates that we test for competency," testified one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, wearing a business attire in the courtroom, was reported to be lighthearted and quite personable during evaluations in prison, and was purposely pushing boundaries, on occasion using familiar terms.

They assessed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and said his results may have improved since 2023 from low or deficient to average because of abstinence from alcohol and better management of prescriptions during his evaluation.

109 Recorded Conversations Raise Concerns

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