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Ex- A&F CEO Mike Jeffries was heard on tape saying to his British partner how they were in serious trouble and in grave danger if he was deemed competent to stand trial on sex trafficking allegations in the coming months, a New York federal court has heard.

The audio were part of more than 100 recorded calls between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith referred to during a multi-day mental competency proceeding recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys contend that he is coping with dementia and late onset of the disease and is not competent to stand trial alongside his partner and their alleged facilitator in October.

However, prosecutors contend their doctors found his health has improved and that the conversations show he is extremely preoccupied on being declared not competent.

In other tapes, Jeffries is heard saying he is hoping for a good outcome, characterizing being found fit as a catastrophe, and tells a medical professional: you must declare me incompetent, the judge learned.

Legal Proceedings and Psychiatric Opinions

The calls were taped in the past year while he was being evaluated for four months in a mental health unit at a correctional institution in North Carolina to see if he could recover his faculties.

The elderly defendant had in the past been deemed mentally incompetent last May but prison officials then declared in December that he was able for proceedings after his treatment period.

The prosecution informed the court Jeffries often protested incarceration and was caught on tape telling to Smith how horrible incarceration was, remarking: so we must make this work.

The Case

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

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

Their being taken into custody came after an investigation that uncovered the group had been at the centre of a elaborate scheme recruiting individuals for sex globally while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.

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

'Inappropriate' Behavior

A trio of medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the lingering impact of a traumatic brain injury, likely dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries exhibits unfiltered and off-color behavior, which is symptomatic of a spectrum of cognitive symptoms.

Examples include Jeffries referring to the prosecution's psychologist a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and describing his partner Smith as a midget, they say.

He was also taped in excruciating detail on about 20 prison calls discussing his travel itinerary for the coming months, despite having been on home confinement since 2024.

"I can't go on trips without you," Jeffries was heard saying to Smith from prison.

The prosecution contend this shows his awareness that he would be released if he was found incompetent and the charges were dismissed.

Conversely, the defence's expert witnesses have a different view, saying it instead highlights that Jeffries fails to recall his legal restrictions and the severity of the charges.

"He lacked the appropriate emotional response that I would expect someone to have who is up against such severe charges," testified one doctor who evaluated Jeffries.

"Rather, his behavior during the evaluation... was almost like we were having a meal at his club. There was no sense of alarm."

Diverging Medical Assessments

Testimony indicated there is data that Jeffries' mental decline started in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was exacerbated by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the moment of the 2018 event and his history showed he continued drinking after being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall drinking had a decisive influence on his state.

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

Doctors from a Federal Medical Center said that Jeffries was able after assessing him over four months in custody.

They assert his intellectual functioning did not align with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be definitively confirmed until an post-mortem could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is more capable and more able intellectually than probably 95% of the individuals that we test for fitness," said one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, wearing a business attire in the courtroom, was reported to be jovial and fairly charismatic during meetings in prison, and was deliberately pushing boundaries, at times using disrespectful language.

They diagnosed Jeffries with slight deficits and said his performance on tests may have risen since 2023 from borderline or deficient to normal because of sobriety and better management of prescriptions during his confinement.

109 Recorded Conversations Raise Issues

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