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One-time the fashion retailer chief executive Mike Jeffries was taped informing his associate that they are in serious trouble and in deep trouble if he was found able to go to trial on trafficking accusations later this year, a US district court has been told.

The taped conversations were included in more than 100 phone calls between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith referred to during a lengthy mental competency proceeding recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team assert that he is suffering with dementia and the onset of Alzheimer's and is not competent to be tried together with his partner and their accused facilitator in October.

Nevertheless, prosecutors argue their medical experts determined his mental state has gotten better and that the recordings show he is incredibly fixated on being declared unfit.

In further recordings, Jeffries states he is hoping for a positive result, labeling being deemed competent as a disaster, and says to a doctor: you had better find me unfit, the court heard.

Judicial Process and Psychiatric Evidence

The recordings were taped last year while he was being held for a period of months in a treatment center at a correctional institution in North Carolina to see if he could recover fitness.

The elderly defendant had previously been found mentally incompetent previously but correctional authorities then announced in December that he was able for proceedings following his treatment period.

Prosecutors advised the judge Jeffries repeatedly griped about incarceration and was heard explaining to Smith how awful jail was, stating: that's why we have to pull this off.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their accused go-between James Jacobson, 73, were indicted with running a worldwide trafficking and commercial sex enterprise in October 2024.

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

Their arrests were prompted by an exposé that revealed the group had been at the heart of a sophisticated network recruiting individuals for sex around the world while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after considering the evidence of several professionals - experts, psychiatrists and medical experts, including prison doctors - who were questioned in the courtroom recently.

'Inappropriate' Conduct

A trio of defense witnesses, 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 stated that Jeffries shows unfiltered and off-color behavior, which is consistent with a spectrum of cognitive symptoms.

Instances include Jeffries calling the prosecution's professional psychologist a derogatory term, praising her hair, telling another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and describing his partner Smith as a dwarf, according to testimony.

He was also heard in minute detail on about 20 prison calls planning his trips abroad for the near future, notwithstanding having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

Prosecutors argue this demonstrates his awareness that he would be released if he was declared unfit and the charges were dropped.

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

"He lacked the normal affect that I would expect someone to have who is confronting such serious charges," said one forensic psychiatrist who assessed Jeffries.

"Instead, his behavior during the evaluation... was as if we were having lunch at his home. There was no sense of alarm."

Opposing Neurological Diagnoses

Reports indicated there is information that Jeffries' mental decline commenced in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was exacerbated by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the time of the 2018 incident and his records showed he continued drinking subsequent to being hospitalized, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall alcohol consumption had a significant effect on his state.

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and started hallucinating, with one event in 2019 where he was discovered in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Medical professionals from a treatment facility testified that Jeffries was fit after observing 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 autopsy could be performed.

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is more capable and more able cognitively than probably 95% of the individuals that we assess for competency," stated one expert.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the court, was described as lighthearted and quite personable during meetings in prison, and was deliberately being provocative, on occasion using disrespectful terms.

They diagnosed Jeffries with slight deficits and indicated his results may have risen since 2023 from borderline or deficient to normal because of sobriety and more consistent medication management during his confinement.

109 Recorded Conversations Prompt Issues

Central to determining competency is whether Jeffries grasps the allegations against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial