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Former the fashion retailer top executive Mike Jeffries was heard on tape informing his associate that they'd be screwed and in deep trouble if he was found competent to stand trial on trafficking allegations later this year, a New York federal court has been told.

The audio were part of in excess of 100 phone calls between the one-time CEO and Matthew Smith played during a lengthy mental competency hearing on Long Island on Long Island.

Jeffries' legal team assert that he is coping with cognitive decline and late onset of Alzheimer's disease and is unfit to be tried next to his partner and their alleged facilitator in October.

Nevertheless, government lawyers say their health professionals determined his mental state has gotten better and that the conversations demonstrate he is extremely focused on being ruled unfit.

In further audio clips, Jeffries is heard saying he is praying for a positive result, labeling being ruled able as a calamity, and tells a medical professional: you had better find me unfit, the Central Islip court learned.

Legal Hearings and Psychiatric Opinions

The recordings were recorded last year while he was being treated for several months in a mental health unit at a correctional institution in North Carolina to assess if he could regain fitness.

The 81-year-old had in the past been deemed not competent previously but correctional authorities then announced in December that he was competent for trial after his treatment period.

Prosecutors advised the judge Jeffries frequently complained about incarceration and was heard telling to Smith how awful jail was, adding: that's why we must succeed.

The Case

Jeffries, his partner Smith, 62, and their alleged intermediary James Jacobson, 73, were accused with orchestrating a international trafficking and prostitution enterprise in October 2024.

They have denied the allegations, which have a potential penalty of a life term.

Their being taken into custody were prompted by an investigation that showed the group had been at the centre of a complex scheme recruiting 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 reviewing the statements of several professionals - forensic psychologists, doctors and medical experts, including prison doctors - who were cross-examined in court during the hearing.

'Inappropriate' Conduct

Three defense witnesses, argue that Jeffries is cognitively impaired due to the residual effects of a brain trauma, likely dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They stated that Jeffries demonstrates socially inappropriate and improper conduct, which is part of a set of cognitive symptoms.

Reported incidents are Jeffries calling the prosecutor's expert witness a insult, praising her hair, informing another expert his clothing was poorly tailored, and referring to his partner Smith as a midget, the court heard.

He was also heard in minute detail on about 20 recorded calls discussing his travel itinerary for the next few months, despite having been on house arrest since 2024.

"I don't want to go on trips without you," Jeffries was overheard saying to Smith from incarceration.

The prosecution suggest this shows his recognition that he would be released if he was ruled incompetent and the charges were dismissed.

In contrast, the defense's expert witnesses disagree, stating it instead highlights that Jeffries fails to recall his legal restrictions and the seriousness of the charges.

"He lacked the expected affect that I would expect someone to have who is facing such grave allegations," stated one expert who reviewed Jeffries.

"Rather, his manner throughout the evaluation... was as if we were having a meal at his club. There was no sign of anxiety."

Conflicting Neurological Diagnoses

Testimony indicated there is information that Jeffries' cognitive deterioration commenced in 2013, when scans showed reduction in volume, which was exacerbated by a incident in 2018.

Jeffries had been intoxicated at the moment of the 2018 fall and his records showed he continued drinking subsequent to being hospitalised, but an expert told the judge he did not think his overall drinking had a decisive influence on his state.

In the wake of the fall, Jeffries experienced psychosis, and started hallucinating, with one event in 2019 where he was located in his underclothes, immobile, in a neighbor's yard.

Doctors from a Federal Medical Center testified that Jeffries was competent after evaluating him over an extended period in the facility.

They assert his mental faculties did not align with Alzheimer's disease, which the court heard could not be conclusively diagnosed until an examination could be performed.

"Even given the deterioration that Mr Jeffries has undergone... he still is brighter and more functioning intellectually than probably 95% of the inmates that we test for competency," stated one expert.

Jeffries, wearing a formal wear in the courtroom, was reported to be jovial and fairly personable during interactions in prison, and was intentionally being provocative, on occasion using disrespectful address.

They assessed Jeffries with minor cognitive impairments and indicated his testing scores may have improved since 2023 from borderline or deficient to typical because of sobriety and better management of prescriptions during his evaluation.

109 Recorded Conversations Raise Concerns

Central to determining fitness is whether Jeffries understands the allegations against him, their penalties, the {legal proceedings|court process|trial