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Former the fashion retailer top executive Mike Jeffries was taped informing his UK-based partner that they are screwed and in deep trouble if he was found able to go to trial on trafficking allegations later this year, a New York federal court has heard.

The taped conversations were part of in excess of 100 telephone conversations between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith played during a lengthy fitness to stand trial hearing recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys argue that he is suffering with cognitive decline and late onset of the disease and is unfit to stand trial together with his partner and their purported middleman in October.

However, prosecutors argue their doctors determined his condition has stabilized and that the conversations demonstrate he is incredibly preoccupied on being ruled incompetent.

In other recordings, Jeffries says he is wishing for a favorable ruling, describing being found fit as a catastrophe, and instructs a medical professional: you better find me unfit, the judge heard.

Legal Proceedings and Psychiatric Testimony

The recordings were taped the previous year while he was being held for four months in a treatment center at a US prison in North Carolina to assess if he could restore fitness.

The elderly defendant had in the past been deemed legally unfit previously but prison officials then declared in December that he was able for proceedings after his evaluation.

Government attorneys advised the judge Jeffries frequently griped about prison conditions and was heard telling to Smith how horrible prison was, stating: so we have to succeed.

Context

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

They have denied the accusations, which could result in a maximum sentence of life in prison.

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

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after reviewing the evidence of six experts - forensic psychologists, doctors and brain specialists, including facility doctors - who were examined in the courtroom this week.

'Inappropriate' Behavior

A trio of defence experts, maintain that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the residual effects of a head injury, likely Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries shows socially inappropriate and improper behavior, which is consistent with a spectrum of cognitive symptoms.

Examples are Jeffries calling the prosecutor's professional psychologist a insult, praising her hair, telling another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and describing his partner Smith as a midget, the court heard.

He was also recorded in excruciating detail on approximately 20 recorded calls planning his travel itinerary for the next few months, despite having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

Prosecutors argue this demonstrates his understanding that he would go free if he was ruled incompetent and the case were dismissed.

In contrast, the defence's medical experts disagree, arguing it instead points to that Jeffries does not remember his legal restrictions and the severity of the situation.

"There wasn't the appropriate emotional response that I would anticipate someone to have who is facing such severe allegations," said one forensic psychiatrist who assessed Jeffries.

"Instead, his behavior throughout the evaluation... was as if we were having lunch at his home. There was no sense of alarm."

Diverging Medical Assessments

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

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the moment of the 2018 event and his medical records showed he persisted in drinking subsequent to being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general drinking had a decisive influence on his state.

Following the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and started having visions, with one event in 2019 where he was found in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Experts from a treatment facility said that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over several months in custody.

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 reduction that Mr Jeffries has experienced... he still is sharper and more functioning intellectually than probably 95% of the individuals that we test for fitness," stated one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a formal wear in the hearing, was reported to be lighthearted and quite engaging during evaluations in the facility, and was intentionally pushing boundaries, at times using familiar terms.

They assessed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and suggested his results may have improved since 2023 from low or impaired to typical because of sobriety and more consistent treatment during his confinement.

109 Prison Calls Present Questions

Central to assessing competency is whether Jeffries understands the allegations against him, their penalties, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial