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Ex- the fashion retailer chief executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape telling his associate how they were screwed and in deep trouble if he was declared competent to stand trial on sex trafficking accusations this autumn, a federal court in NY has heard.

The recordings were included in over 100 telephone conversations between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith played during a multi-day fitness to stand trial session recently on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team argue that he is coping with cognitive decline and the onset of Alzheimer's and is incapable to stand trial together with his partner and their alleged middleman in October.

However, government lawyers argue their health professionals found his health has stabilized and that the recordings show he is extremely fixated on being declared incompetent.

In further tapes, Jeffries says he is praying for a good outcome, characterizing being deemed competent as a calamity, and tells a physician: you had better declare me unfit, the judge learned.

Judicial Proceedings and Psychiatric Opinions

The calls were taped last year while he was being treated for four months in a psychiatric facility at a federal prison in North Carolina to see if he could restore his faculties.

The elderly defendant had in the past been deemed mentally incompetent last May but prison officials then stated in December that he was able for proceedings after his treatment period.

The prosecution advised the court Jeffries frequently protested incarceration and was recorded telling to Smith how awful jail was, stating: so we got to pull this off.

The Case

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

They have pleaded not guilty the allegations, which carry a maximum sentence of a life term.

Their arrests followed an exposé that showed the group had been at the heart of a elaborate operation sourcing men for sex around the world while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

The Honorable Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will face trial after considering the evidence of multiple specialists - forensic psychologists, psychiatrists and brain specialists, including correctional physicians - who were examined in the courtroom this week.

'Inappropriate' Behavior

Three medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is legally unfit due to the lingering impact of a head injury, likely dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries exhibits disinhibited and off-color behavior, which is part of a range of dementia symptoms.

Reported incidents include Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's professional psychologist a cunning bitch, complimenting her hair, telling another expert his clothing was ill-fitting, and describing his partner Smith as a derogatory term, according to testimony.

He was also taped in great detail on around 20 jail conversations discussing his international travel plans for the next few months, even though having been on house arrest since 2024.

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

Prosecutors argue this shows his awareness that he would be released if he was found unfit and the case were dropped.

Conversely, the defence's witnesses counter, saying it instead points to that Jeffries fails to recall his legal restrictions and the seriousness of the charges.

"I didn't see the appropriate reaction that I would anticipate someone to have who is up against such grave allegations," said one expert who evaluated Jeffries.

"On the contrary, his behavior throughout the assessment... was similar to we were having a chat at his club. There was no sign of distress."

Conflicting Psychiatric Diagnoses

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

Jeffries had been consuming alcohol at the time of the 2018 event and his records showed he continued drinking following being treated, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical alcohol consumption had a significant effect on his health.

After the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and began seeing things, with one incident in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, unable to move, in a neighbour's garden.

Experts from a prison hospital said that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over four months in custody.

They contend his intellectual functioning were not consistent with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be conclusively diagnosed until an autopsy could be performed.

"Even given the reduction that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is sharper and more able intellectually than probably 95% of the patients that we test for competency," said one expert.

Jeffries, dressed in a suit and tie in the hearing, was reported to be lighthearted and fairly engaging during evaluations in prison, and was intentionally pushing boundaries, at times using disrespectful language.

They assessed Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and indicated his testing scores may have gotten better since 2023 from borderline or impaired to average because of abstinence from alcohol and better medication management during his evaluation.

109 Prison Calls Present Issues

Fundamental to assessing fitness is whether Jeffries understands the charges against him, their implications, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial