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One-time Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape saying to his British partner that they are in serious trouble and in big trouble if he was found fit to go to trial on trafficking allegations in the coming months, a US district court has been told.

The audio were among in excess of 100 telephone conversations between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith referred to during a lengthy legal competency proceeding recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys assert that he is coping with dementia and late onset of the disease and is unfit to stand trial next to his partner and their accused middleman in October.

In contrast, the prosecution argue their medical experts concluded his health has improved and that the recordings demonstrate he is incredibly focused on being found incompetent.

In other recordings, Jeffries states he is hoping for a positive result, describing being ruled able as a calamity, and tells a physician: you must declare me unfit, the Central Islip court was told.

Judicial Proceedings and Medical Testimony

The recordings were recorded last year while he was being held for several months in a psychiatric facility at a US prison in North Carolina to assess if he could restore competency.

The 81-year-old had earlier been ruled mentally incompetent previously but prison officials then announced in December that he was competent for trial after his hospital stay.

Prosecutors informed the judge Jeffries repeatedly griped about prison conditions and was caught on tape explaining to Smith how terrible jail was, stating: so we have to make this work.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their alleged intermediary James Jacobson, 73, were accused with running a global trafficking and commercial sex business in October 2024.

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

Their arrests were prompted by an investigation that uncovered the group had been at the core of a elaborate operation scouting men for sex around the world while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after reviewing the statements of several professionals - forensic psychologists, doctors and neurologists, including prison doctors - who were cross-examined in proceedings during the hearing.

'Disinhibited' Behavior

A trio of medical witnesses for the defense, testify that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the lingering impact of a brain trauma, likely Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries demonstrates socially inappropriate and improper behavior, which is symptomatic of a range of symptoms.

Examples include Jeffries referring to the prosecution's expert witness a cunning bitch, remarking on her hair, informing another expert his clothing was badly made, and referring to his partner Smith as a dwarf, the court heard.

He was also heard in great detail on approximately 20 prison calls planning his international travel plans for the near future, notwithstanding having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

The prosecution suggest this shows his awareness that he would regain his freedom if he was found incompetent and the indictment were dropped.

Conversely, the defense's expert witnesses have a different view, arguing it instead underscores that Jeffries fails to recall his conditions and the seriousness of the charges.

"He lacked the appropriate affect that I would anticipate someone to have who is confronting such severe charges," testified one doctor who assessed Jeffries.

"On the contrary, his behavior during the examination... was similar to we were having lunch at his club. There was no sense of anxiety."

Opposing Neurological Diagnoses

Reports indicated there is data that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration began in 2013, when scans showed reduction in volume, which was worsened by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 incident and his medical records showed he kept on drinking after being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall intake had a significant effect on his state.

After the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and began having visions, with one incident in 2019 where he was discovered in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Medical professionals from a treatment facility said that Jeffries was competent after assessing him over an extended period in the facility.

They contend his cognitive abilities 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 deterioration that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is brighter and more able cognitively than probably 95% of the patients that we evaluate for competency," said one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the court, was described as cheerful and quite personable during meetings in prison, and was deliberately being provocative, at times using familiar address.

They diagnosed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and said his results may have risen since 2023 from low or deficient to typical because of stopping drinking and improved treatment during his evaluation.

109 Jail Recordings Prompt Questions

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