Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries competent to face sex trafficking trial, judge rules

Michael Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch who was charged with running an international sex trafficking scheme over several years while he ran the company, is mentally competent for trial, a federal judge ruled.

In her 157-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Nusrat Choudhury found, after reviewing testimony, medical expert reports, and hours of phone calls made by Jeffries, that he is cleared to face a jury in October on Long Island.

“Jeffries clearly possesses a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings to adjudicate his criminal charges,” said Choudhury, who added that he is a “reasonably intelligent person and skilled communicator who possesses a more than sufficient ability to consult with his lawyers.”

Jeffries’ legal team had previously argued that he was unfit to stand trial due to dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, prompting Choudhury to order him to be hospitalized to evaluate his mental fitness.

Choudhury said Jeffries’ 109 phone calls made during his four-month stint at the federal medical center to be “particularly illuminating.”

“On the calls, Jeffries is a fluent conversational partner and shows that he has the ability to learn new information auditorily and to retrieve it days or weeks later, particularly where the subject is important to him,” she said.

Choudhury pointed to a recorded phone call, where Jeffries told Smith that he was concerned about going to trial and that, if he were found guilty, “they’ll take all our money away.”

It “will be a disaster for us in terms of time, effort, money, every way you can say it,” Jeffries said in another call to Smith, according to the ruling.

Still, Choudhury said she would accommodate Jeffries by holding trial from 1:00pm to 5:00pm and allowing Jeffries to review transcripts and discuss legal strategy with his lawyers each morning.

Brian Bieber, an attorney of Jeffries, declined an NBC News request to comment on the ruling. “The case, and all related issues, will be tried inside the courtroom — not in the media,” he said.

Jeffries, 82, along with his partner, Matthew Smith, and an alleged recruiter, James Jacobson, were federally charged in 2024 for operating a global sex trafficking and prostitution business from 2008 to 2015.

Federal prosecutors claimed that Jeffries leveraged his wealth and power as Abercrombie’s CEO to coerce dozens of men into having sex with him and Smith. Jeffries was head of the fashion retailer from around 1992 to 2014.

Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson have pleaded not guilty to one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson organized drug-fueled “sex events” around the world — including in New York City, England and Morocco — where the victims who attended the “events” were led to believe that it could lead to modeling opportunities or benefit their career.

The men were also led to believe “that not complying with requests for certain acts during the sex events could harm their careers,” the government alleged.

“Many of the victims, at least one of whom was as young as 19 years old, were financially vulnerable and aspired to become models in the fashion industry, a notoriously cutthroat world,” federal prosecutors said.

Prosecutors added, “Some of the men they recruited had previously worked at Abercrombie stores or modeled for Abercrombie.”