Ex-Abercrombie CEO has dementia and is unfit for sex trafficking trial, prosecutors and defence say

Michael Jeffries, former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, leaves following a hearing at the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in West Palm Beach, Fla., Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

NEW YORK — The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch is suffering from dementia and isn’t competent to stand trial on sex trafficking charges, according to prosecutors and his lawyers.

Michael Jeffries requires round-the-clock care because the 80-year-old has Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia and the “residual effects of a traumatic brain injury,” defense attorneys wrote in a letter filed Thursday in a New York federal court, citing recent evaluations by medical professionals.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers want a federal judge in Central Islip to place Jeffries in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons for up to four months so that he can be hospitalized and receive treatment that might allow his criminal case to proceed.

Jeffries has been free on a US$10 million bond since pleading not guilty in October to federal sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges.

Prosecutors say Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man lured men to drug-fueled sex parties in New York City, the Hamptons and other locations by dangling the promise of modeling for the retailer’s ads.

Lawyers for Jeffries didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday. The U.S. attorney’s office for the eastern district of New York declined to comment.

In their letter, Jeffries’ lawyers said at least four medical professionals concluded that their client’s cognitive issues are “progressive and incurable” and that he will not “regain his competency and cannot be restored to competency in the future.”

They said the doctors found that his cognitive issues “significantly impair” his ability to understand the charges against him, and to consult and participate with his counsel in his defense.

“The progressive nature of his neurocognitive disorder ensures continued decline over time, further diminishing his already limited functional capacity,” Dr. Alexander Bardey, a forensic psychiatrist, and Dr. Cheryl Paradis, a forensic psychologist, wrote following their December evaluations. “It is, therefore, our professional opinion, within a reasonable degree of psychological and psychiatric certainty, that Mr. Jeffries is not competent to proceed in the current case and cannot be restored to competency in the future.”

Jeffries left Abercrombie in 2014 after leading the company for more than two decades. He presided over the retailer’s evolution from a Manhattan hunting and outdoor goods store founded in 1892 to a fixture of teen mall culture during the early 2000s.

Jeffries’ partner, Matthew Smith, has also pleaded not guilty and remains out on bond, as does their co-defendant, James Jacobson.

Philip Marcelo, The Associated Press