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Ex- A&F CEO Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his British partner how they were in serious trouble and in grave danger if he was deemed able to go to trial on human trafficking accusations in the coming months, a US district court has learned.

The audio were among over 100 phone calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith cited during a lengthy legal competency session recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers argue that he is battling cognitive decline and the onset of the disease and is not competent to face trial next to his partner and their alleged facilitator in October.

Nevertheless, government lawyers argue their medical experts found his condition has stabilized and that the conversations reveal he is incredibly focused on being ruled unfit.

In further recordings, Jeffries says he is praying for a good outcome, labeling being found fit as a calamity, and says to a physician: you had better rule me unfit, the judge was told.

Court Proceedings and Medical Opinions

The calls were made the previous year while he was being held for several months in a mental health unit at a US prison in North Carolina to assess if he could restore competency.

The 81-year-old had in the past been deemed legally unfit previously but prison officials then declared in December that he was able for trial subsequent to his evaluation.

Government attorneys advised the judge Jeffries often protested incarceration and was recorded telling to Smith how awful incarceration was, adding: so we have to succeed.

The Case

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

They have denied the accusations, which carry a maximum sentence of a life term.

Their being taken into custody were prompted by an exposé that showed the trio had been at the heart of a sophisticated scheme sourcing men for sex around the world while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

The Honorable Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after considering the evidence of multiple specialists - psychologists, doctors and medical experts, including facility doctors - who were examined in the courtroom this week.

'Inappropriate' Behaviour

Several defense witnesses, argue that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the lingering impact of a brain trauma, probable a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries demonstrates disinhibited and off-color behaviour, which is symptomatic of a set of dementia symptoms.

Examples include Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's professional psychologist a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, informing another expert his clothing was badly made, and referring to his partner Smith as a midget, according to testimony.

He was also heard in excruciating detail on approximately 20 jail conversations talking about his travel itinerary for the coming months, despite having been on house arrest since 2024.

"I can't go on trips without you," Jeffries was heard telling Smith from jail.

Prosecutors argue this demonstrates his understanding that he would regain his freedom if he was found incompetent and the indictment were dismissed.

However, the defense's expert witnesses disagree, stating it instead underscores that Jeffries does not remember his legal restrictions and the gravity of the situation.

"There wasn't the normal emotional response that I would expect someone to have who is up against such grave charges," said one doctor who assessed Jeffries.

"On the contrary, his demeanor throughout the evaluation... was similar to we were having a meal at his country club. There was no sign of alarm."

Diverging Neurological Diagnoses

Evidence indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' decline started in 2013, when imaging showed brain shrinkage, which was worsened by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the moment of the 2018 event and his records showed he continued drinking following being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general intake had a significant effect on his state.

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and began seeing things, with one event in 2019 where he was discovered in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbor's yard.

Doctors from a prison hospital testified that Jeffries was able after observing him over four months in custody.

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

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is sharper and more able cognitively than probably 95% of the individuals that we test for competency," stated one expert.

Jeffries, wearing a business attire in the hearing, was described as jovial and quite charismatic during evaluations in the facility, and was intentionally being provocative, on occasion using informal terms.

They diagnosed Jeffries with slight deficits and said his results may have gotten better since 2023 from borderline or deficient to average because of stopping drinking and better medication management during his stay.

109 Jail Recordings Present Concerns

Central to determining fitness is whether Jeffries comprehends the charges against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial