Judge: Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries fit to stand trial

Michael S. Jeffries, Abercrombie & Fitch’s 82-year-old former chief executive who is criminally charged with having brought men he hired for sex to Long Island and beyond, has been found mentally competent to stand trial despite previous diagnoses of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

The decision, issued in Central Islip on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Nusrat Choudhury in a 157-page ruling, rejected arguments by Jeffries' defense that his frail medical condition precludes him from understanding the case and participating in his defense, key legal elements in establishing one's fitness to stand trial.

"Jeffries has a more than sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyers with a reasonable degree of rational understanding ... strong communication skills, and sufficient abilities to learn, remember and retrieve information, think strategically, and participate in his defense," the judge wrote. "He has demonstrated abilities to ask pertinent questions, engage in critical thinking, follow and fully participate in a conversation, express himself, learn information and recall it days and weeks later, and engage in self-advocacy to advance his interests."

To accommodate Jeffries, the judge did order special tweaks to proceedings, such as shorter trial days than usual and breaks, atypical for other defendants.

Jeffries, who led Abercrombie & Fitch from 1992 until 2014, has pleaded not guilty. The trial is set to begin Oct. 26 with jury selection.

Doctors — his and the government’s — had previously said he is incompetent for the proceedings, and the judge also had declared him incompetent, but a medical prison analysis she ordered concluded otherwise, during exams last year and "competency restoration procedures." 

Among the evidence cited in the judge's ruling that Jeffries is competent were his phone calls to his romantic partner, Matthew Smith, recorded by the government, that Jeffries made while he was in a prison medical facility for up to four months for clinicians to decide whether he is competent.

After having reviewed the charges with a prosecution expert witness, Jeffries told Smith, invoking something he said he once heard from Judge Judy: " 'These, these people were adults, and there was no force involved,' which I think is kind of key, isn't it?" The context of Judge Judy's alleged remarks was not clear.

Jeffries, now of Florida and under house arrest on $10 million bond, is charged with sex trafficking and prostitution for allegedly enticing young models with the allure of celebrity out to the Hamptons and other places, with the true purpose being sex with him and Smith, a British citizen who also lives in Florida. Smith is also charged in the case and is out on the same bond amount. A man who acted as a "recruiter," James Jacobson, 71, of Wisconsin, is charged, too. Both have pleaded not guilty.

None of the parties or their lawyers could be immediately reached for comment.

The government alleges that the young men recruited for sex were plied with alcohol and given Viagra and muscle relaxers at parties. 

The case, being handled by prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York, involves conduct that allegedly occurred between 2008 and 2015 in places including Water Mill, such as the offering of possibly modeling for Abercrombie & Fitch, a clothing retailer.

A 2024 study in the journal Law and Human Behavior found that about 45% of defendants were determined to be incompetent when dementia was raised as a defense.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.