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One-time the fashion retailer top executive Mike Jeffries was taped saying to his UK-based partner that they'd be finished and in big trouble if he was deemed fit to face trial on human trafficking charges in the coming months, a federal court in NY has learned.

The audio were part of more than 100 telephone conversations between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith referred to during a multi-day mental competency hearing this week on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers contend that he is suffering with cognitive decline and late onset of the disease and is unfit to face trial together with his partner and their alleged middleman in October.

However, government lawyers argue their medical experts found his health has stabilized and that the conversations show he is extremely focused on being found incompetent.

In other audio clips, Jeffries says he is hoping for a favorable ruling, labeling being found fit as a calamity, and tells a medical professional: you must declare me incompetent, the Central Islip court heard.

Legal Proceedings and Psychiatric Opinions

The recordings were recorded the previous year while he was being evaluated for several months in a treatment center at a US prison in North Carolina to assess if he could regain his faculties.

The octogenarian had previously been found mentally incompetent previously but prison officials then announced in December that he was able for trial subsequent to his evaluation.

The prosecution advised the judge Jeffries often complained about life in jail and was recorded describing to Smith how terrible prison was, remarking: that's why we must pull this off.

Context

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

They have denied the accusations, which have a potential penalty of a life term.

Their detentions followed an exposé that uncovered the trio had been at the heart of a elaborate scheme sourcing men for sex globally while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after reviewing the testimony of six experts - experts, specialists and brain specialists, including correctional physicians - who were examined in the courtroom this week.

'Disinhibited' Behavior

A trio of medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the lingering impact of a head injury, suspected Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries exhibits unfiltered and improper behavior, which is consistent with a spectrum of dementia symptoms.

Examples include Jeffries calling the prosecution's expert witness a insult, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a derogatory term, they say.

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

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

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

However, the defence's medical experts have a different view, saying it instead underscores that Jeffries fails to recall his court-ordered limits and the severity of the case.

"There wasn't the expected reaction that I would anticipate someone to have who is confronting such severe charges," stated one doctor who reviewed Jeffries.

"Rather, his demeanor throughout the evaluation... was as if we were having a chat at his club. There was no indication of distress."

Opposing Neurological Diagnoses

Evidence indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' decline began in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was exacerbated by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the time of the 2018 incident and his medical records showed he kept on drinking following being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical drinking had a decisive influence on his condition.

Following the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and started having visions, with one event in 2019 where he was found in his underclothes, immobile, in a nearby property.

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

They say his mental faculties were not consistent 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 experienced... he still is brighter and more functioning cognitively than probably 95% of the individuals that we assess for competency," stated one expert.

Jeffries, wearing a suit and tie in the hearing, was described as cheerful and quite engaging during evaluations in prison, and was purposely pushing boundaries, at times using informal terms.

They found Jeffries with slight deficits and suggested his performance on tests may have risen since 2023 from low or impaired to normal because of abstinence from alcohol and improved treatment during his evaluation.

109 Prison Calls Present Issues

Key to establishing competency is whether Jeffries comprehends the allegations against him, their penalties, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial