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Ex- Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive Mike Jeffries was recorded saying to his British partner how they are screwed and in grave danger if he was found fit to go to trial on human trafficking allegations in the coming months, a US district court has learned.

The taped conversations were part of in excess of 100 phone calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith cited during a lengthy legal competency hearing recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team contend that he is suffering with dementia and the onset of Alzheimer's and is unfit to be tried alongside his partner and their accused intermediary in October.

However, the prosecution argue their health professionals found his condition has gotten better and that the conversations demonstrate he is remarkably fixated on being ruled not competent.

In other recordings, Jeffries says he is praying for a favorable ruling, describing being ruled able as a catastrophe, and tells a doctor: you must declare me unfit, the judge learned.

Legal Process and Health Opinions

The conversations were made in the past year while he was being held for four months in a psychiatric facility at a correctional institution in North Carolina to assess if he could regain fitness.

The octogenarian had earlier been ruled mentally incompetent in May but facility staff then declared in December that he was fit for trial after his treatment period.

Prosecutors told the court Jeffries frequently complained about life in jail and was caught on tape telling to Smith how awful incarceration was, stating: which is why we have to succeed.

Context

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

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

Their being taken into custody followed an report that showed the group had been at the centre of a elaborate network sourcing men for sex globally while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after considering the statements of six experts - experts, doctors and medical experts, including correctional physicians - who were questioned in the courtroom during the hearing.

'Unrestrained' Behaviour

A trio of medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the after-effects of a traumatic brain injury, probable a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries exhibits socially inappropriate and socially inappropriate behaviour, which is consistent with a set of dementia symptoms.

Examples include Jeffries calling the prosecutor's psychologist a derogatory term, remarking on her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a dwarf, they say.

He was also taped in minute detail on about 20 recorded calls planning his international travel plans for the next few months, even though having been on house arrest since 2024.

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

The prosecution contend this indicates his recognition that he would regain his freedom if he was ruled incompetent and the charges were dismissed.

However, the defense's medical experts counter, arguing it instead highlights that Jeffries has forgotten his conditions and the seriousness of the charges.

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

"On the contrary, his manner throughout the examination... was as if we were having a chat at his club. There was no indication of distress."

Diverging Psychiatric Assessments

Evidence indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' decline began in 2013, when scans showed mild atrophy, which was accelerated by a incident in 2018.

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the moment of the 2018 fall and his history showed he kept on drinking following being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general drinking had a decisive influence on his condition.

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and started hallucinating, with one episode in 2019 where he was found in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Medical professionals from a treatment facility stated that Jeffries was able after observing him over several months in prison.

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

"Even given the reduction that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is brighter and more functioning mentally than probably 95% of the inmates that we evaluate for competency," testified one expert.

Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the hearing, was described as jovial and quite charismatic during interactions in the facility, and was intentionally testing the limits, at times using disrespectful address.

They found Jeffries with slight deficits and suggested his results may have risen since 2023 from low or deficient to average because of abstinence from alcohol and improved treatment during his stay.

109 Prison Calls Raise Issues

Central to establishing competency is whether Jeffries understands the charges against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial