Prison phone call recordings raise questions over ex-Abercrombie boss’ fitness for trial. 7 hours ago. Rianna CroxfordInvestigations correspondent. Reuters. 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.. Their arrests followed an October 2023 BBC investigation and ongoing podcast series that revealed the trio had been at the centre of a sophisticated operation scouting young men for sex around the world while Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.. Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May whether Jeffries will stand trial after considering the testimony of six experts – forensic psychologists, psychiatrists and neurologists, including prison doctors – who were cross-examined in court this week.. ‘Disinhibited’ behaviour. Three defence experts, Dr Jacqueline C. Valdes, Dr Alexander Bardey and Dr Miranda Rosenberg, maintain that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury, probable Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.. They testified that Jeffries demonstrates “disinhibited” and socially “inappropriate” behaviour, which is part of a range of dementia symptoms, the court heard.. Examples include Jeffries calling the prosecutor’s pro
