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One-time Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape telling his UK-based partner how they are finished and in grave danger if he was declared fit to face trial on human trafficking charges later this year, a federal court in NY has heard.

The taped conversations were included in over 100 phone calls between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith referred to during a multi-day legal competency hearing recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team contend that he is battling cognitive decline and late onset of Alzheimer's disease and is incapable to be tried together with his partner and their alleged middleman in October.

Nevertheless, prosecutors say their medical experts found his mental state has improved and that the conversations show he is remarkably focused on being ruled unfit.

In further audio clips, Jeffries says he is wishing for a good outcome, characterizing being ruled able as a calamity, and instructs a doctor: you must find me unfit, the Central Islip court was told.

Court Process and Psychiatric Evidence

The conversations were made in the past year while he was being treated for four months in a psychiatric facility at a federal prison in North Carolina to see if he could restore his faculties.

The elderly defendant had in the past been deemed legally unfit last May but facility staff then announced in December that he was fit for proceedings after his hospital stay.

Prosecutors told the court Jeffries repeatedly complained about life in jail and was heard explaining to Smith how awful incarceration was, adding: so we got to make this work.

Context

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

They have entered not guilty pleas the allegations, which could result in a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Their detentions followed an exposé that revealed the three had been at the heart of a elaborate operation recruiting individuals for sex internationally while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after weighing the testimony of several professionals - psychologists, doctors and brain specialists, including prison doctors - who were cross-examined in the courtroom this week.

'Inappropriate' Behavior

A trio of medical witnesses for the defense, testify that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the residual effects of a head injury, likely Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries demonstrates socially inappropriate and off-color conduct, which is consistent with a set of dementia symptoms.

Reported incidents involve Jeffries calling the prosecution's psychologist a insult, remarking on her hair, informing another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and describing his partner Smith as a dwarf, they say.

He was also heard in minute detail on around 20 jail conversations talking about his international travel plans for the next few months, despite having been on house arrest since 2024.

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

The prosecution suggest this shows his awareness that he would regain his freedom if he was ruled unfit and the case were dismissed.

Conversely, the defense's expert witnesses counter, stating it instead points to that Jeffries does not remember his conditions and the severity of the charges.

"There wasn't the normal reaction that I would expect someone to have who is confronting such serious allegations," testified one doctor who assessed Jeffries.

"On the contrary, his manner during the examination... was almost like we were having a chat at his country club. There was no sense of alarm."

Diverging Neurological Assessments

Evidence indicated there is data that Jeffries' decline started in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was worsened by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 fall and his records showed he persisted in drinking following being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general intake had a significant effect on his state.

After the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and started having visions, with one incident in 2019 where he was found in his underwear, unable to move, in a neighbor's yard.

Experts from a Federal Medical Center testified that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over several months in custody.

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

"Even given the reduction that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is sharper and more able mentally than probably 95% of the patients that we test for competency," testified one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the hearing, was described as jovial and fairly personable during evaluations in the facility, and was intentionally testing the limits, sometimes using familiar address.

They found Jeffries with slight deficits and suggested his performance on tests may have improved since 2023 from borderline or impaired to average because of abstinence from alcohol and more consistent treatment during his stay.

109 Prison Calls Present Concerns

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