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One-time A&F CEO Mike Jeffries was heard on tape informing his associate how they were in serious trouble and in big trouble if he was declared able to go to trial on sex trafficking allegations this autumn, a US district court has learned.

The recordings were among more than 100 telephone conversations between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith referred to during a multi-day mental competency hearing recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers contend that he is coping with cognitive decline and late onset of Alzheimer's disease and is incapable to face trial alongside his partner and their accused middleman in October.

However, prosecutors say their medical experts concluded his health has improved and that the calls show he is extremely focused on being ruled not competent.

In other recordings, Jeffries says he is praying for a good outcome, characterizing being deemed competent as a calamity, and instructs a medical professional: you better find me incompetent, the judge was told.

Court Hearings and Medical Opinions

The conversations were made in the past year while he was being treated for four months in a mental health unit at a correctional institution in North Carolina to assess if he could restore competency.

The elderly defendant had previously been found mentally incompetent last May but correctional authorities then declared in December that he was able for trial subsequent to his treatment period.

The prosecution told the court Jeffries frequently griped about incarceration and was caught on tape describing to Smith how terrible jail was, remarking: so we got to pull this off.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their accused go-between James Jacobson, 73, were charged with orchestrating a worldwide human trafficking and prostitution enterprise in October 2024.

They have denied the allegations, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Their detentions came after an exposé that revealed the trio had been at the heart of a sophisticated operation recruiting young men 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 stand trial after weighing the evidence of multiple specialists - experts, specialists and neurologists, including correctional physicians - who were cross-examined in court during the hearing.

'Disinhibited' Behaviour

Three defence experts, testify that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the lingering impact of a brain trauma, likely Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They said under oath that Jeffries exhibits disinhibited and improper conduct, which is consistent with a range of cognitive symptoms.

Instances are Jeffries calling the prosecutor's expert witness a derogatory term, praising her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a dwarf, the court heard.

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

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

The prosecution argue this demonstrates his recognition that he would regain his freedom if he was declared incompetent and the indictment were dropped.

However, the defense's expert witnesses have a different view, saying it instead points to that Jeffries has forgotten his court-ordered limits and the severity of the case.

"There wasn't the normal emotional response that I would expect someone to have who is confronting such grave allegations," stated one expert who evaluated Jeffries.

"Rather, his manner throughout the examination... was similar to we were having a meal at his country club. There was no sense of anxiety."

Diverging Medical Assessments

Reports indicated there is data that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration commenced in 2013, when scans showed mild atrophy, which was accelerated by a incident in 2018.

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the moment of the 2018 incident and his medical records showed he persisted in drinking subsequent to being hospitalized, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall drinking had a major impact on his state.

Following the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and started hallucinating, with one episode in 2019 where he was discovered in his underwear, immobile, in a neighbor's yard.

Medical professionals from a treatment facility testified that Jeffries was fit after evaluating him over an extended period in prison.

They assert his intellectual functioning did not align with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be conclusively diagnosed until an post-mortem could be performed.

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has experienced... he still is more capable and more able mentally than probably 95% of the inmates that we test for fitness," testified one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the hearing, was reported to be cheerful and fairly engaging during meetings in prison, and was intentionally being provocative, at times using disrespectful address.

They assessed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and suggested his testing scores may have risen since 2023 from low or deficient to normal because of sobriety and improved medication management during his confinement.

109 Prison Calls Raise Issues

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