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One-time Abercrombie & Fitch top executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape informing his British partner that they'd be screwed and in grave danger if he was declared competent to go to trial on trafficking allegations in the coming months, a US district court has learned.

The audio were part of in excess of 100 telephone conversations between the former retail executive and Matthew Smith played during a lengthy legal competency session this week on Long Island.

Jeffries' attorneys assert that he is battling cognitive decline and the onset of the disease and is not competent to be tried next to his partner and their accused middleman in October.

Nevertheless, prosecutors say their medical experts concluded his mental state has stabilized and that the conversations show he is incredibly preoccupied on being found not competent.

In other audio clips, Jeffries says he is wishing for a good outcome, labeling being deemed competent as a calamity, and says to a doctor: you must declare me incompetent, the Central Islip court heard.

Court Hearings and Psychiatric Testimony

The calls were recorded the previous year while he was being treated for several months in a mental health unit at a federal prison in North Carolina to see if he could regain fitness.

The octogenarian had in the past been deemed mentally incompetent last May but prison officials then declared in December that he was fit for trial following his hospital stay.

The prosecution advised the judge Jeffries repeatedly griped about incarceration and was caught on tape describing to Smith how horrible jail was, stating: which is why we got to pull this off.

Context

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their accused go-between James Jacobson, 73, were indicted with operating a international sex trafficking and prostitution operation in October 2024.

They have entered not guilty pleas the allegations, which have a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Their being taken into custody were prompted by an investigation that showed the three had been at the core of a complex network recruiting individuals for sex globally while Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury will decide in May about whether Jeffries will be tried after weighing the evidence of several professionals - experts, doctors and neurologists, including facility doctors - who were cross-examined in the courtroom recently.

'Inappropriate' Conduct

Several medical witnesses for the defense, maintain that Jeffries is mentally incompetent due to the after-effects of a brain trauma, suspected a form of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They testified that Jeffries shows socially inappropriate and improper behaviour, which is symptomatic of a set of cognitive symptoms.

Examples include Jeffries referring to the prosecutor's psychologist a derogatory term, praising her hair, telling another expert his clothing was badly made, and referring to his partner Smith as a midget, they say.

He was also heard in great detail on around 20 prison calls discussing his trips abroad for the near future, despite having been on restricted movement since 2024.

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

Prosecutors argue this indicates his recognition that he would regain his freedom if he was found incompetent and the case were dropped.

In contrast, the defence's medical experts have a different view, saying it instead points to that Jeffries has forgotten his legal restrictions and the seriousness of the situation.

"There wasn't the appropriate emotional response that I would anticipate someone to have who is confronting such serious charges," testified one expert who evaluated Jeffries.

"On the contrary, his demeanor during the evaluation... was almost like we were having a chat at his home. There was no sense of anxiety."

Diverging Psychiatric Assessments

Evidence indicated there is information that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration began in 2013, when tests showed mild atrophy, which was accelerated by a accident in 2018.

Jeffries had been drinking alcohol at the time of the 2018 event and his medical records showed he persisted in drinking after being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his typical drinking had a major impact on his state.

After the fall, Jeffries suffered a psychotic break, and began having visions, with one incident in 2019 where he was found in his underwear, immobile, in a neighbour's garden.

Medical professionals from a Federal Medical Center stated that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over several months in the facility.

They assert his mental faculties did not match Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be absolutely determined until an examination could be performed.

"Even given the reduction that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is more capable and more able cognitively than probably 95% of the patients that we evaluate for fitness," testified one neuropsychologist.

Jeffries, dressed in a business attire in the hearing, was reported to be lighthearted and rather charismatic during interactions in the facility, and was purposely being provocative, on occasion using disrespectful address.

They assessed Jeffries with mild neurocognitive deficits and said his testing scores may have risen since 2023 from low or deficient to typical because of abstinence from alcohol and improved medication management during his confinement.

109 Prison Calls Raise Issues

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