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Ex- Abercrombie & Fitch top executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape saying to his associate that they were finished and in deep trouble if he was deemed able to go to trial on trafficking accusations later this year, a US district court has been told.

The audio were part of in excess of 100 telephone conversations between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith played during a multi-day legal competency proceeding this week on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team assert that he is coping with cognitive decline and late onset of Alzheimer's and is not competent to be tried next to his partner and their purported middleman in October.

In contrast, prosecutors say their health professionals concluded his condition has stabilized and that the recordings show he is extremely fixated on being found unfit.

In further audio clips, Jeffries says he is wishing for a good outcome, characterizing being deemed competent as a catastrophe, and instructs a medical professional: you must rule me unfit, the judge heard.

Legal Hearings and Psychiatric Opinions

The calls were taped last year while he was being treated for a period of months in a mental health unit at a US prison in North Carolina to determine if he could regain competency.

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

The prosecution informed the court Jeffries frequently griped about life in jail and was recorded describing to Smith how terrible incarceration was, adding: that's why we have to make this work.

Context

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

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

Their detentions followed an report that revealed the group 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 considering the statements of several professionals - psychologists, specialists and brain specialists, including correctional physicians - who were questioned in court this week.

'Disinhibited' Behavior

Three defence experts, maintain that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the residual effects of a head injury, suspected a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries shows socially inappropriate and off-color behaviour, which is consistent with a range of cognitive symptoms.

Reported incidents include Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's expert witness a insult, remarking on her hair, telling another expert his clothing was badly made, and describing his partner Smith as a midget, according to testimony.

He was also heard in minute detail on about 20 jail conversations discussing his international travel plans for the coming months, despite having been on home confinement since 2024.

"I don't want to go on trips without you," Jeffries was heard saying to Smith from incarceration.

Prosecutors argue this indicates his understanding that he would regain his freedom if he was ruled unfit and the charges were dropped.

However, the defense's medical experts counter, stating it instead highlights that Jeffries does not remember his court-ordered limits and the severity of the case.

"I didn't see the expected reaction that I would expect someone to have who is facing such serious charges," stated one forensic psychiatrist who reviewed Jeffries.

"Rather, his manner throughout the evaluation... was almost like we were having a meal at his club. There was no sign of anxiety."

Opposing Medical Assessments

Evidence indicated there is information that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration started in 2013, when tests showed brain shrinkage, which was accelerated by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the time of the 2018 fall and his medical records showed he continued drinking subsequent to being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general drinking had a significant effect on his health.

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

Medical professionals from a prison hospital testified that Jeffries was able after evaluating him over four months in custody.

They say his cognitive abilities did not match 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 capable mentally than probably 95% of the patients that we assess for fitness," testified one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the courtroom, was reported to be cheerful and fairly personable during evaluations in the facility, and was purposely testing the limits, at times using familiar address.

They found Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and indicated his results may have gotten better since 2023 from low or impaired to typical because of stopping drinking and better medication management during his confinement.

109 Prison Calls Raise Questions

Key to establishing fitness is whether Jeffries grasps the charges against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial