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Former A&F chief executive Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his associate that they'd be in serious trouble and in grave danger if he was declared able to face trial on sex trafficking charges in the coming months, a US district court has been told.

The recordings were included in more than 100 phone calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith referred to during a four-day mental competency proceeding on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team contend that he is suffering with cognitive decline and the onset of the disease and is unfit to face trial together with his partner and their accused middleman in October.

However, prosecutors contend their medical experts found his mental state has stabilized and that the calls show he is extremely fixated on being ruled incompetent.

In further audio clips, Jeffries says he is wishing for a favorable ruling, describing being ruled able as a disaster, and says to a doctor: you must declare me incompetent, the Central Islip court was told.

Judicial Hearings and Health Opinions

The conversations were recorded the previous year while he was being held for four months in a mental health unit at a federal prison in North Carolina to determine if he could restore fitness.

The 81-year-old had earlier been ruled legally unfit in May but facility staff then stated in December that he was able for trial following his evaluation.

The prosecution informed the judge Jeffries frequently protested incarceration and was recorded describing to Smith how horrible jail was, adding: which is why we have to succeed.

Background

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their alleged middleman James Jacobson, 73, were charged with running a international human trafficking and prostitution operation in October 2024.

They have entered not guilty pleas the accusations, which have a potential penalty of life in prison.

Their arrests were prompted by an report that uncovered the group had been at the centre of a sophisticated network sourcing 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 weighing the testimony of several professionals - psychologists, specialists and medical experts, including prison doctors - who were cross-examined in proceedings this week.

'Disinhibited' Behaviour

A trio of defense witnesses, maintain that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the after-effects of a brain trauma, probable Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries shows socially inappropriate and off-color conduct, which is part of a spectrum of dementia symptoms.

Examples include Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's expert witness a insult, remarking on her hair, informing another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a dwarf, they say.

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

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

The prosecution suggest this shows his awareness that he would be released if he was declared incompetent and the indictment were dropped.

However, the defense's witnesses counter, stating it instead points to that Jeffries has forgotten his court-ordered limits and the seriousness of the charges.

"He lacked the expected reaction that I would expect someone to have who is confronting such severe allegations," said one forensic psychiatrist who reviewed Jeffries.

"Rather, his demeanor throughout the assessment... was similar to we were having lunch at his club. There was no sign of alarm."

Opposing Medical Assessments

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

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the time of the 2018 event and his medical records showed he kept on drinking subsequent to being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall intake had a decisive influence on his health.

Following the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and started seeing things, with one incident in 2019 where he was discovered in his underwear, incapacitated, in a neighbour's garden.

Experts from a Federal Medical Center said that Jeffries was competent after observing him over four months in the facility.

They contend his mental faculties did not align with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be absolutely determined until an examination could be performed.

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

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the courtroom, was reported to be cheerful and quite engaging during interactions in prison, and was deliberately testing the limits, sometimes using disrespectful language.

They found Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and indicated his performance on tests may have risen since 2023 from borderline or impaired to typical because of abstinence from alcohol and better management of prescriptions during his stay.

109 Jail Recordings Raise Concerns

Fundamental to determining competency is whether Jeffries comprehends the charges against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial