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One-time A&F chief executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape informing his associate how they are screwed and in big trouble if he was deemed fit to stand trial on human trafficking accusations in the coming months, a New York federal court has heard.

The audio were among more than 100 phone calls between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith played during a four-day mental competency proceeding recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' lawyers assert that he is suffering with dementia and late onset of the disease and is incapable to face trial next to his partner and their purported facilitator in October.

Nevertheless, prosecutors argue their medical experts found his health has stabilized and that the calls reveal he is incredibly focused on being ruled incompetent.

In other recordings, Jeffries says he is hoping for a favorable ruling, characterizing being ruled able as a catastrophe, and instructs a medical professional: you better declare me incompetent, the judge heard.

Court Process and Medical Evidence

The recordings were made last year while he was being held for a period of months in a psychiatric facility at a federal prison in North Carolina to assess if he could regain competency.

The elderly defendant had earlier been ruled not competent previously but prison officials then stated in December that he was able for trial after his hospital stay.

The prosecution informed the judge Jeffries repeatedly protested incarceration and was caught on tape explaining to Smith how horrible incarceration was, adding: that's why we got to succeed.

The Case

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

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

Their detentions followed an report that revealed the trio had been at the core of a elaborate network recruiting men for sex internationally while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will rule in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after reviewing the testimony of multiple specialists - experts, specialists and neurologists, including facility doctors - who were questioned in court during the hearing.

'Unrestrained' Conduct

A trio of defense witnesses, maintain that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the after-effects of a traumatic brain injury, probable dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries demonstrates disinhibited and socially inappropriate behavior, which is part of a set of dementia symptoms.

Instances involve Jeffries calling the prosecutor's psychologist a cunning bitch, praising her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and referring to his partner Smith as a dwarf, they say.

He was also taped in excruciating detail on approximately 20 prison calls talking about his international travel plans for the near future, despite having been on house arrest since 2024.

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

Prosecutors contend this shows his understanding that he would be released if he was ruled unfit and the charges were dropped.

However, the defense's medical experts disagree, stating it instead highlights that Jeffries does not remember his court-ordered limits and the severity of the charges.

"I didn't see the expected affect that I would expect someone to have who is confronting such severe allegations," stated one expert who evaluated Jeffries.

"Instead, his demeanor during the evaluation... was similar to we were having a meal at his home. There was no sense of distress."

Opposing Medical Assessments

Testimony indicated there is information that Jeffries' mental decline commenced in 2013, when scans showed reduction in volume, which was worsened by a fall in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the time of the 2018 fall and his history showed he persisted in drinking following being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his general alcohol consumption had a major impact on his condition.

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and began hallucinating, with one event in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, incapacitated, in a neighbour's garden.

Doctors from a Federal Medical Center testified that Jeffries was fit after evaluating him over four months in the facility.

They contend his intellectual functioning did not align 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 undergone... he still is more capable and more capable mentally than probably 95% of the inmates that we evaluate for competency," testified one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, wearing a suit and tie in the courtroom, was reported to be cheerful and rather engaging during evaluations in the facility, and was deliberately testing the limits, at times using familiar address.

They assessed Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and suggested his results may have improved since 2023 from low or impaired to typical because of sobriety and better treatment during his confinement.

109 Prison Calls Raise Questions

Central to determining competency is whether Jeffries understands the allegations against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial