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One-time Abercrombie & Fitch top executive Mike Jeffries was taped telling his associate that they are finished and in grave danger if he was deemed able to go to trial on trafficking charges later this year, a federal court in NY has been told.

The audio were part of over 100 telephone conversations between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith referred to during a multi-day fitness to stand trial hearing recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers argue that he is coping with cognitive decline and late onset of the disease and is incapable to be tried together with his partner and their accused middleman in October.

However, government lawyers contend their doctors concluded his condition has gotten better and that the conversations show he is incredibly focused on being ruled not competent.

In additional recordings, Jeffries states he is praying for a good outcome, describing being deemed competent as a catastrophe, and tells a physician: you better find me incompetent, the court heard.

Legal Process and Health Evidence

The recordings were made last year while he was being held for four months in a mental health unit at a correctional institution in North Carolina to determine if he could recover his faculties.

The octogenarian had earlier been ruled mentally incompetent in May but facility staff then declared in December that he was able for proceedings subsequent to his evaluation.

Government attorneys told the judge Jeffries frequently complained about life in jail and was heard describing to Smith how terrible jail was, stating: so we must make this work.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported middleman James Jacobson, 73, were charged with operating a worldwide trafficking and commercial sex enterprise in October 2024.

They have entered not guilty pleas the allegations, which could result in a potential penalty of a life term.

Their arrests were prompted by an report that uncovered the group had been at the heart of a sophisticated operation sourcing men for sex around the world while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after considering the testimony of multiple specialists - psychologists, doctors and brain specialists, including prison doctors - who were cross-examined in court during the hearing.

'Inappropriate' Conduct

Three medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury, likely a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries exhibits disinhibited and socially inappropriate behaviour, which is symptomatic of a set of symptoms.

Instances include Jeffries referring to the prosecution's professional psychologist a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and referring to his partner Smith as a derogatory term, they say.

He was also heard in excruciating detail on about 20 jail conversations planning his international travel plans for the near future, even though having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

The prosecution argue this demonstrates his understanding that he would go free if he was declared incompetent and the indictment were dropped.

Conversely, the defense's expert witnesses counter, saying it instead underscores that Jeffries fails to recall his court-ordered limits and the gravity of the charges.

"He lacked the appropriate emotional response that I would expect someone to have who is confronting such grave allegations," said one expert who reviewed Jeffries.

"Rather, his behavior during the examination... was similar to we were having a meal at his country club. There was no sense of alarm."

Diverging Medical Diagnoses

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

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the time of the 2018 event and his history showed he persisted in drinking subsequent to being hospitalized, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general intake had a major impact on his health.

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and started having visions, with one episode in 2019 where he was found in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Doctors from a prison hospital stated that Jeffries was fit after evaluating him over several months in prison.

They say his mental faculties were not consistent with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be definitively confirmed until an examination could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is more capable and more able mentally than probably 95% of the inmates that we evaluate for fitness," testified one expert.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the courtroom, was described as cheerful and fairly charismatic during evaluations in the facility, and was intentionally testing the limits, on occasion using familiar language.

They found Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and said his testing scores may have improved since 2023 from borderline or deficient to normal because of stopping drinking and better treatment during his stay.

109 Recorded Conversations Raise Concerns

Key to establishing fitness is whether Jeffries understands the allegations against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial