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Ex- the fashion retailer top executive Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his associate that they are in serious trouble and in grave danger if he was deemed competent to face trial on trafficking charges later this year, a New York federal court has been told.

The taped conversations were part of over 100 recorded calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith referred to during a multi-day fitness to stand trial session on Long Island on Long Island.

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

In contrast, prosecutors contend their health professionals determined his condition has improved and that the calls show he is incredibly fixated on being declared incompetent.

In other recordings, Jeffries says he is praying for a positive result, labeling being ruled able as a catastrophe, and instructs a physician: you must rule me incompetent, the judge was told.

Court Hearings and Health Testimony

The recordings were taped the previous year while he was being evaluated for a period of months in a mental health unit at a US prison in North Carolina to assess if he could regain his faculties.

The 81-year-old had previously been found legally unfit previously but correctional authorities then stated in December that he was fit for trial following his hospital stay.

Prosecutors advised the judge Jeffries repeatedly griped about life in jail and was caught on tape describing to Smith how terrible prison was, remarking: so we must make this work.

Background

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

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

Their detentions followed an report that uncovered the trio had been at the centre of a complex network recruiting men for sex globally while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after reviewing the evidence of multiple specialists - forensic psychologists, psychiatrists and medical experts, including prison doctors - who were examined in proceedings this week.

'Disinhibited' Behaviour

A trio of medical witnesses for the defense, argue that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury, suspected Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries exhibits unfiltered and improper behaviour, which is symptomatic of a set of symptoms.

Examples are Jeffries referring to the prosecution's professional psychologist a derogatory term, remarking on her hair, telling another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and describing his partner Smith as a midget, according to testimony.

He was also heard in excruciating detail on around 20 jail conversations talking about his trips abroad for the coming months, despite having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

The prosecution suggest this demonstrates his awareness that he would regain his freedom if he was found unfit and the indictment were dismissed.

However, the defense's witnesses counter, arguing it instead highlights that Jeffries fails to recall his court-ordered limits and the seriousness of the charges.

"I didn't see the normal emotional response that I would anticipate someone to have who is facing such serious allegations," said one expert who evaluated Jeffries.

"Rather, his behavior throughout the assessment... was almost like we were having a meal at his club. There was no indication of distress."

Conflicting Medical Diagnoses

Reports indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' decline commenced in 2013, when imaging showed brain shrinkage, which was exacerbated by a incident in 2018.

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the moment of the 2018 incident and his records showed he continued drinking subsequent to being hospitalized, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall intake had a decisive influence on his condition.

After the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and started seeing things, with one event in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Medical professionals from a prison hospital testified that Jeffries was competent after observing him over several months in the facility.

They say his intellectual functioning were not consistent with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be absolutely determined until an autopsy could be performed.

"Even given the reduction that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is brighter and more able cognitively than probably 95% of the inmates that we evaluate for competency," stated one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a formal wear in the hearing, was described as cheerful and fairly charismatic during evaluations in the facility, and was purposely being provocative, on occasion using familiar language.

They diagnosed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and indicated his testing scores may have gotten better since 2023 from low or impaired to average because of abstinence from alcohol and improved treatment during his evaluation.

109 Recorded Conversations Prompt Questions

Fundamental to establishing fitness is whether Jeffries grasps the charges against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial