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Former the fashion retailer CEO Mike Jeffries was recorded informing his associate how they are screwed and in deep trouble if he was found competent to stand trial on trafficking accusations later this year, a federal court in NY has heard.

The recordings were among in excess of 100 phone calls between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith played during a multi-day mental competency proceeding recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers argue that he is battling dementia and late onset of Alzheimer's disease and is not competent to stand trial together with his partner and their purported middleman in October.

Nevertheless, the prosecution contend their doctors found his health has improved and that the calls show he is remarkably fixated on being ruled not competent.

In additional recordings, Jeffries says he is wishing for a good outcome, characterizing being ruled able as a calamity, and says to a physician: you better rule me unfit, the judge was told.

Legal Process and Medical Opinions

The recordings were taped in the past year while he was being evaluated for several months in a mental health unit at a US prison in North Carolina to see if he could regain competency.

The 81-year-old had in the past been deemed legally unfit last May but correctional authorities then stated in December that he was fit for proceedings after his hospital stay.

Prosecutors informed the judge Jeffries frequently complained about incarceration and was caught on tape describing to Smith how horrible jail was, stating: that's why we have to succeed.

Context

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their accused intermediary James Jacobson, 73, were accused with running a worldwide trafficking and prostitution enterprise in October 2024.

They have denied the allegations, which carry a potential penalty of life imprisonment.

Their detentions came after an report that revealed the group had been at the core of a complex operation scouting young men for sex internationally while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after weighing the testimony of several professionals - experts, doctors and brain specialists, including facility doctors - who were cross-examined in court this week.

'Unrestrained' Behaviour

Three defence experts, maintain that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the lingering impact of a head injury, suspected a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries demonstrates unfiltered and improper behaviour, which is consistent with a spectrum of dementia symptoms.

Reported incidents are Jeffries calling the prosecution's professional psychologist a insult, praising her hair, informing another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and describing his partner Smith as a dwarf, they say.

He was also heard in minute detail on approximately 20 recorded calls discussing his trips abroad for the coming months, notwithstanding having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

The prosecution contend this indicates his awareness that he would regain his freedom if he was declared incompetent and the charges were dropped.

However, the defence's witnesses disagree, arguing it instead highlights that Jeffries fails to recall his conditions and the gravity of the charges.

"He lacked the expected emotional response that I would anticipate someone to have who is facing such severe allegations," stated one forensic psychiatrist who reviewed Jeffries.

"Instead, his manner throughout the examination... was similar to we were having a chat at his country club. There was no sign of distress."

Diverging Medical Opinions

Testimony indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' mental decline commenced in 2013, when imaging showed mild atrophy, which was worsened by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the moment of the 2018 incident and his records showed he continued drinking after being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general intake had a major impact on his condition.

Following the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and started seeing things, with one event in 2019 where he was located in his underwear, incapacitated, in a nearby property.

Doctors from a prison hospital testified that Jeffries was able after evaluating him over several months in the facility.

They say his cognitive abilities 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 deterioration that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is brighter and more functioning intellectually than probably 95% of the individuals that we assess for fitness," said one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the courtroom, was described as cheerful and fairly personable during meetings in prison, and was intentionally testing the limits, at times using familiar language.

They assessed Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and indicated his performance on tests may have risen since 2023 from low or impaired to normal because of sobriety and more consistent treatment during his stay.

109 Recorded Conversations Prompt Questions

Fundamental to assessing fitness is whether Jeffries grasps the allegations against him, their penalties, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial