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One-time the fashion retailer CEO Mike Jeffries was taped saying to his British partner how they'd be finished and in grave danger if he was found able to stand trial on human trafficking charges later this year, a federal court in NY has been told.

The audio were part of over 100 recorded calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith cited during a four-day fitness to stand trial session recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team argue that he is battling cognitive decline and the onset of the disease and is not competent to be tried together with his partner and their alleged facilitator in October.

In contrast, government lawyers argue their medical experts determined his mental state has improved and that the recordings demonstrate he is extremely fixated on being found incompetent.

In other audio clips, Jeffries says he is wishing for a good outcome, labeling being deemed competent as a calamity, and tells a physician: you had better declare me incompetent, the court heard.

Judicial Hearings and Health Evidence

The conversations were recorded in the past year while he was being held for a period of months in a treatment center at a federal prison in North Carolina to assess if he could recover his faculties.

The 81-year-old had in the past been deemed legally unfit last May but correctional authorities then declared in December that he was fit for proceedings after his hospital stay.

Government attorneys told the judge Jeffries often griped about prison conditions and was caught on tape explaining to Smith how terrible jail was, adding: so we got to succeed.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their alleged go-between James Jacobson, 73, were charged with running a worldwide sex trafficking and prostitution operation in October 2024.

They have entered not guilty pleas the charges, which have a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Their arrests came after an investigation that uncovered the three had been at the core of a elaborate scheme recruiting young men for sex around the world while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after considering the evidence of six experts - experts, specialists and brain specialists, including facility doctors - who were examined in proceedings recently.

'Inappropriate' Behavior

A trio of medical witnesses for the defense, argue that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the residual effects of a brain trauma, likely dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries demonstrates socially inappropriate and socially inappropriate conduct, which is consistent with a range of dementia symptoms.

Examples include Jeffries calling the prosecution's professional psychologist a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, informing another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a dwarf, they say.

He was also recorded in great detail on around 20 prison calls planning his travel itinerary for the coming months, despite having been on restricted movement since 2024.

"I can't go on trips without you," Jeffries was recorded saying to Smith from prison.

Prosecutors suggest this demonstrates his recognition that he would be released if he was found unfit and the charges were dropped.

Conversely, the defense's expert witnesses disagree, arguing it instead underscores that Jeffries does not remember his conditions and the gravity of the case.

"There wasn't the normal affect that I would anticipate someone to have who is facing such severe charges," said one expert who evaluated Jeffries.

"On the contrary, his manner during the evaluation... was almost like we were having a meal at his country club. There was no sign of anxiety."

Diverging Psychiatric Opinions

Evidence indicated there is data that Jeffries' decline began in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was exacerbated by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 incident and his records showed he kept on drinking subsequent to being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical drinking had a significant effect on his condition.

Following the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and began seeing things, with one episode in 2019 where he was discovered in his underwear, unable to move, in a neighbour's garden.

Experts from a treatment facility stated that Jeffries was fit after assessing him over four months in prison.

They contend his cognitive abilities did not align with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be definitively confirmed until an post-mortem could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is more capable and more able intellectually than probably 95% of the inmates that we assess for competency," testified one expert.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the hearing, was described as jovial and rather personable during evaluations in prison, and was purposely pushing boundaries, sometimes using familiar terms.

They assessed Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and indicated his testing scores may have risen since 2023 from borderline or deficient to normal because of stopping drinking and improved treatment during his confinement.

109 Prison Calls Raise Concerns

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