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Ex- A&F chief executive Mike Jeffries was taped telling his associate how they were in serious trouble and in grave danger if he was found able to face trial on trafficking charges in the coming months, a federal court in NY has heard.

The audio were included in more than 100 telephone conversations between the ex-fashion boss and Matthew Smith played during a four-day fitness to stand trial session recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team argue that he is battling cognitive decline and late onset of the disease and is unfit to face trial alongside his partner and their alleged middleman in October.

In contrast, the prosecution contend their health professionals found his health has improved and that the calls show he is extremely fixated on being declared unfit.

In further audio clips, Jeffries says he is praying for a favorable ruling, characterizing being ruled able as a catastrophe, and instructs a physician: you better declare me incompetent, the court heard.

Legal Process and Health Testimony

The conversations were made last year while he was being evaluated for four months in a treatment center at a correctional institution in North Carolina to assess if he could recover fitness.

The octogenarian had previously been found legally unfit in May but correctional authorities then announced in December that he was able for trial after his evaluation.

The prosecution informed the court Jeffries repeatedly complained about life in jail and was caught on tape describing to Smith how terrible jail was, adding: so we got to pull this off.

The Case

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

They have pleaded not guilty the allegations, which could result in a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Their arrests came after an report that uncovered the trio had been at the core of a elaborate scheme scouting men for sex internationally while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will make a determination in May about whether Jeffries will stand trial after weighing the statements of six experts - psychologists, doctors and medical experts, including correctional physicians - who were examined in proceedings recently.

'Unrestrained' Conduct

Three medical witnesses for the defense, testify that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury, likely a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries exhibits unfiltered and off-color behaviour, which is part of a spectrum of cognitive symptoms.

Examples involve Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's professional psychologist a cunning bitch, remarking on her hair, informing another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and describing his partner Smith as a midget, they say.

He was also recorded in excruciating detail on approximately 20 prison calls planning his trips abroad for the near future, even though having been on home confinement since 2024.

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

Prosecutors argue this demonstrates his awareness that he would go free if he was found incompetent and the indictment were dropped.

However, the defence's medical experts disagree, saying it instead points to that Jeffries does not remember his conditions and the severity of the situation.

"He lacked the normal affect that I would expect someone to have who is up against such serious allegations," said one doctor who reviewed Jeffries.

"Rather, his behavior during the evaluation... was as if we were having a chat at his home. There was no sense of distress."

Conflicting Neurological Diagnoses

Evidence indicated there is data that Jeffries' mental decline began in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was worsened by a incident in 2018.

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the time of the 2018 event and his records showed he persisted in drinking after being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical drinking had a decisive influence on his condition.

Following the fall, Jeffries became psychotic, and started hallucinating, with one episode in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, unable to move, in a nearby property.

Medical professionals from a treatment facility said that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over an extended period in the facility.

They say his intellectual functioning did not align with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be absolutely determined until an autopsy could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is more capable and more able mentally than probably 95% of the individuals that we assess for fitness," testified one doctor.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the hearing, was described as lighthearted and quite personable during interactions in prison, and was intentionally being provocative, sometimes using disrespectful terms.

They found Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and said his performance on tests may have improved since 2023 from borderline or impaired to average because of abstinence from alcohol and improved management of prescriptions during his evaluation.

109 Prison Calls Raise Issues

Central to establishing competency is whether Jeffries grasps the charges against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial