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Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was heard on tape saying to his associate how they were in serious trouble and in grave danger if he was deemed competent to go to trial on trafficking charges later this year, a US district court has been told.

The audio were among over 100 recorded calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith cited during a multi-day mental competency session on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers assert that he is coping with cognitive decline and the onset of the disease and is not competent to be tried together with his partner and their alleged middleman in October.

However, prosecutors argue their health professionals found his condition has stabilized and that the conversations reveal he is incredibly preoccupied on being declared incompetent.

In further tapes, Jeffries says he is hoping for a positive result, describing being found fit as a calamity, and says to a physician: you must declare me unfit, the Central Islip court learned.

Court Proceedings and Psychiatric Opinions

The calls were made in the past year while he was being treated for a period of months in a mental health unit at a federal prison in North Carolina to determine if he could recover his faculties.

The 81-year-old had previously been found mentally incompetent in May but facility staff then declared in December that he was fit for trial after his hospital stay.

Government attorneys advised the court Jeffries repeatedly protested life in jail and was heard telling to Smith how terrible jail was, remarking: which is why we must pull this off.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported go-between James Jacobson, 73, were indicted with running a international human trafficking and prostitution business in October 2024.

They have denied the allegations, which could result in a potential penalty of life in prison.

Their detentions were prompted by an investigation that showed the three had been at the core of a sophisticated network recruiting individuals for sex around the world while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after considering the evidence of six experts - experts, doctors and neurologists, including prison doctors - who were examined in the courtroom during the hearing.

'Inappropriate' Behavior

Three medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the residual effects of a brain trauma, likely dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries demonstrates unfiltered and improper conduct, which is part of a spectrum of symptoms.

Examples involve Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's expert witness a insult, remarking on her hair, telling another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and referring to his partner Smith as a dwarf, the court heard.

He was also recorded in great detail on about 20 prison calls talking about his trips abroad for the coming months, notwithstanding having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

Prosecutors contend this demonstrates his recognition that he would be released if he was declared incompetent and the charges were dropped.

However, the defense's medical experts counter, arguing it instead underscores that Jeffries fails to recall his legal restrictions and the severity of the charges.

"There wasn't the normal emotional response that I would expect someone to have who is up against such severe allegations," testified one doctor who evaluated Jeffries.

"Instead, his behavior throughout the assessment... was similar to we were having a meal at his club. There was no sign of distress."

Opposing Medical Opinions

Reports indicated there is data that Jeffries' decline commenced in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was accelerated by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the time of the 2018 event and his history showed he continued drinking after being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general drinking had a major impact on his health.

After the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and started hallucinating, with one episode in 2019 where he was found in his underclothes, immobile, in a neighbor's yard.

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

They say his mental faculties did not align with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be conclusively diagnosed until an examination could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has suffered... he still is sharper and more functioning cognitively than probably 95% of the inmates that we test for fitness," testified one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, dressed in a formal wear in the courtroom, was described as cheerful and quite charismatic during evaluations in the facility, and was intentionally pushing boundaries, on occasion using familiar language.

They diagnosed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and suggested his testing scores may have risen since 2023 from low or deficient to average because of stopping drinking and better management of prescriptions during his stay.

109 Recorded Conversations Prompt Concerns

Fundamental to establishing competency is whether Jeffries grasps the allegations against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial