According to recently released court records, Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch who was accused of sex trafficking, suffers from dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Jeffries was diagnosed by a neuropsychologist after multiple assessments, according to two documents submitted Monday in a New York court.
According to the petition, Jeffries’ lawyer Brian H. Bieber started to doubt the businessman’s attention, skill, and attentiveness.
“The Michael Jeffries who presented himself did not even come close to resembling a master s degree-educated individual, who was just nine years earlier, the chief executive officer of a publicly traded company,” according to the report.
In October, Jeffries was taken into custody in West Palm Beach, Florida, on suspicion of interstate prostitution and sex trafficking. A judge ordered that he be placed under house detention with GPS monitoring and that he not be allowed to travel without the required authorization before he was freed on a $10 million bond. He had to give up his passport as well.
Jeffries has entered a not guilty plea to 15 counts of interstate prostitution and one count of sex trafficking.
According to the court petition, Bieber “questioned Mr. Jeffries competency to rationally assist on a sustained and consistent basis counsel in connection with the possible factual and legal defenses to the allegations he was facing.”
Bieber suggested that the 80-year-old Jeffries get a neuropsychological assessment.
Testing “yielded diagnostic impressions that Mr. Jeffries currently suffers from dementia with behavioral disturbance… Alzheimer’s disease with late onset (probable)… and Lewy body dementia,” according to the petition, which was the conclusion of a physician.
In June, a competency hearing is planned.
According to a federal indictment, Jeffries, James Jacobson, and his lover Matthew Smith ran a “international sex trafficking and prostitution business” between 2008 and 2015. Jacobson was characterized as a recruiter in the indictment.
From 1992 to 2014, Jeffries—no stranger to controversy—led the well-known apparel company.
The three allegedly planned “sex events” for Jeffries, Smith, and “others” in Italy, England, New York City, St. Barts, Morocco, the Hamptons, and France, according to the indictment. The defendants reportedly “employed coercive, fraudulent and deceptive tactics in connection with the recruitment, hiring, transportation, obtaining, maintaining, solicitation and payment of the men to engage in commercial sex,” according to the indictment.
“That not complying with requests for certain acts during the sex events could harm their careers,” the report states, and the men who attended the “events” thought it could advance their professions or lead to modeling chances.
The youngest of the alleged victims was 19, according to a detention brief from the prosecution, and many of them were “financially vulnerable.” Prosecutors said some of the guys had previously modeled for Abercrombie or worked at Abercrombie stores. Prosecutors said the men were required to sign nondisclosure agreements and turn over their wallets and cell phones during the activities.
Additionally, it is alleged that Jeffries, Smith, and Jacobson hired and compensated domestic workers to “facilitate and supervise the sex events.” According to the indictment, the staff reportedly gave Jeffries, Smith, and the males who attended condoms, drink, Viagra, lubricant, and muscle relaxants.
Prosecutors said that staff was ordered to inject some of the men “a prescription-grade erection-inducing substance for the purpose of causing the men to engage in sex acts in which they were otherwise physically incapable or unwilling.”
According to the accusation, Jacobson or the staff paid the men who went. Some men allegedly received “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in cash, according to the prosecution.
Prosecutors accused the defendants of hiring a “full-service security company” to conduct background checks and intimidate any alleged victims who threatened to expose or sue them.
At an October news conference, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said Jeffries and Smith spent millions on the alleged sex trafficking enterprise. Jacobson allegedly had the victims engage in commercial sex acts with him during “tryouts” held before the sex events, Peace said.
Peace said his office became aware of the allegations through media reports. In 2023,BBCpublished an article about Abercrombie & Fitch launching an investigation into sexual misconduct claims against Jeffries.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!