In a major reversal of a 2023 court ruling, a U.S. federal judge has cleared the way for former Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive Mike Jeffries to face trial on multiple felony sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges, finding ample evidence that the 81-year-old defendant retains the cognitive capacity to participate in legal proceedings.
Last year, a previous court assessment had deemed Jeffries mentally unfit to stand trial, citing diagnoses of dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease that raised questions about his ability to understand the charges against him. However, following an extensive review of Jeffries’ medical documentation and more than 21 hours of audio recordings captured across 109 of his personal phone calls, U.S. District Judge Nusrat Choudhury concluded that the defendant meets the legal standard for trial competence.
In a 150-plus-page ruling, Judge Choudhury highlighted the phone recordings as particularly compelling evidence of Jeffries’ cognitive ability. ‘On the calls, Jeffries is a fluent conversational partner and shows that he has the ability to learn new information auditorily,’ Choudhury wrote. ‘Jeffries clearly possesses a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings to adjudicate his criminal charges.’
While Choudhury emphasized that Jeffries is competent to proceed without qualification, the court has approved targeted accommodations to account for the former CEO’s age and documented mild cognitive impairments. Court sessions will be held only between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. daily, allowing Jeffries to use the morning to review trial transcripts and consult with his legal team on the previous day’s developments. The trial schedule will also include at least two or three 15-minute breaks each session, and both the prosecution and defense will be required to provide full daily transcripts for Jeffries to review ahead of the next court day.
Jeffries is one of three defendants named in an October 2024 indictment, which also charges his partner Matthew Smith, 62, and alleged middleman James Jacobson, 73, with operating a transnational sex trafficking ring that dates back to Jeffries’ tenure leading Abercrombie & Fitch. All three defendants have entered not guilty pleas to the charges, which include more than a dozen counts of sex trafficking in violation of federal interstate prostitution laws. A conviction on the top charges carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The criminal case emerged after a 2023 investigative report and ongoing podcast series by the BBC uncovered the alleged operation, which prosecutors say involved the trio scouting young men for sexual exploitation across the globe for decades while Jeffries led the major retail brand. Jeffries’ trial is currently scheduled to open in federal court on October 26.