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Former A&F top executive Mike Jeffries was taped telling his UK-based partner that they are screwed and in grave danger if he was deemed fit to stand trial on sex trafficking accusations later this year, a federal court in NY has heard.

The recordings were included in more than 100 telephone conversations between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith cited during a multi-day fitness to stand trial hearing this week on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team contend that he is coping with dementia and the onset of Alzheimer's disease and is incapable to stand trial alongside his partner and their purported facilitator in October.

However, the prosecution argue their doctors concluded his health has stabilized and that the conversations demonstrate he is extremely fixated on being ruled incompetent.

In additional tapes, Jeffries states he is praying for a positive result, describing being found fit as a disaster, and instructs a medical professional: you must rule me unfit, the court heard.

Judicial Process and Health Opinions

The calls were made last year while he was being treated for several months in a psychiatric facility at a US prison in North Carolina to assess if he could recover competency.

The 81-year-old had previously been found mentally incompetent previously but facility staff then declared in December that he was able for proceedings after his evaluation.

Prosecutors advised the judge Jeffries often protested incarceration and was recorded telling to Smith how terrible jail was, stating: so we got to succeed.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their purported go-between James Jacobson, 73, were charged with orchestrating a global sex trafficking and commercial sex operation in October 2024.

They have entered not guilty pleas the accusations, which have a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Their detentions came after an investigation that uncovered the three had been at the centre of a elaborate operation sourcing men for sex globally while Jeffries was the head of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Presiding Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after weighing the statements of several professionals - psychologists, doctors and brain specialists, including correctional physicians - who were questioned in the courtroom recently.

'Disinhibited' Behavior

Three defense witnesses, testify that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the after-effects of a brain trauma, suspected dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries exhibits disinhibited and improper conduct, which is part of a range of dementia symptoms.

Examples are Jeffries calling the prosecution's expert witness a insult, praising her hair, telling another expert his clothing was badly made, and describing his partner Smith as a midget, the court heard.

He was also recorded in great detail on about 20 recorded calls talking about his international travel plans for the coming months, notwithstanding having been on house arrest since 2024.

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

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

However, the defence's medical experts disagree, saying it instead underscores that Jeffries has forgotten his court-ordered limits and the severity of the charges.

"He lacked the expected emotional response that I would anticipate someone to have who is facing such serious charges," said one doctor who evaluated Jeffries.

"On the contrary, his demeanor during the evaluation... was similar to we were having a meal at his home. There was no indication of anxiety."

Diverging Medical Diagnoses

Evidence indicated there is evidence that Jeffries' mental decline began in 2013, when imaging showed reduction in volume, which was worsened by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the moment of the 2018 incident and his records showed he persisted in drinking following being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall drinking had a decisive influence on his state.

Following the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and began hallucinating, with one event in 2019 where he was found in his underwear, immobile, in a neighbor's yard.

Experts from a Federal Medical Center said that Jeffries was fit after evaluating him over an extended period in prison.

They assert his intellectual functioning did not match Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be absolutely determined until an post-mortem could be performed.

"Even given the declines that Mr Jeffries has experienced... he still is more capable and more capable cognitively than probably 95% of the individuals that we evaluate for competency," said one doctor.

Jeffries, wearing a business attire in the hearing, was reported to be jovial and rather personable during meetings in the facility, and was intentionally being provocative, sometimes using informal address.

They found Jeffries with slight deficits and said his results may have gotten better since 2023 from borderline or impaired to typical because of sobriety and better medication management during his stay.

109 Prison Calls Prompt Issues

Central to assessing fitness is whether Jeffries grasps the allegations against him, their consequences, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial