Prison phone call recordings raise questions over ex-Abercrombie boss' fitness for trial
📖 Full Retelling
Mike Jeffries' lawyers argue that he is suffering with dementia and late onset of Alzheimer's disease.
Entity Intersection Graph
No entity connections available yet for this article.
Original Source
Prison phone call recordings raise questions over ex-Abercrombie boss' fitness for trial 27 minutes ago Share Save Rianna Croxford Investigations correspondent Share Save Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was recorded telling his British partner "we're screwed" and in "big trouble" if he was found fit to stand trial on sex trafficking charges later this year, a New York federal court has heard. The audio was part of more than 100 phone calls between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith referred to during a four-day mental competency hearing this week on Long Island. Jeffries' lawyers argue that he is suffering with dementia and late onset of Alzheimer's disease and is unfit to face trial alongside his partner and their alleged middleman in October. However, prosecutors say their medical experts found his condition has improved and that the calls reveal he is "incredibly focused" on being found incompetent. In further recordings, Jeffries says he is "hoping for a good outcome", describing being found fit as a "disaster", and tells a doctor: "you better find me incompetent", Central Islip court heard. The calls were recorded last year while he was being treated for four months in a mental health unit at a federal prison in North Carolina to see if he could regain competency. The 81-year-old had previously been found mentally incompetent last May but prison officials then declared in December that he was fit for trial following his hospital stay. Prosecutors told the court Jeffries frequently complained about prison conditions and was caught on tape describing to Smith how "horrible jail was", adding: "that's why we got to pull this off". Ex-Abercrombie boss now facing abuse claims from 40 men Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their alleged middleman James Jacobson, 73, were charged with running a global sex trafficking and prostitution business in October 2024. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison...
Read full article at source