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The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) suffers from dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, his legal team has stated in a court document filed in New York.
Attorneys for Mike Jeffries have requested a hearing to determine whether he is mentally competent to stand trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The 80-year-old man was arrested along with his partner in October and accused of running an international sex trafficking and prostitution business. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
The so-called competition hearing is scheduled for June of next year.
Jeffries, who ran American clothing brand A&F for two decades, is accused of running a sex trafficking and prostitution business from at least 2008-2015.
US prosecutors allege he used his wealth, power and status “to traffic men for his own sexual pleasure.”and to the pleasure of his British partner Matthew Smith, 61.
They said the pair, along with a middleman James Jacobson, 71, used force, fraud and coercion to get vulnerable aspiring models to engage in violent and exploitative sexual acts.
The three men pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released on bail.
The FBI began investigating last year after the BBC revealed claims that Jeffries and Smith had sexually exploited men at events they organized around the world.
He BBC investigationpublished in October 2023, found that the couple were at the center of a sophisticated operation involving a middleman seeking sex with young men.
That same month, Brian Bieber, Jeffries’ attorney, said his client was examined several times by a neuropsychologist who later concluded he suffered from two types of dementia and probable late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
In the court filing, Bieber added that during an initial meeting last year the former fashion boss “did not even resemble a master’s-educated individual who just nine years earlier was CEO of a publicly traded company.” .
As a result, Bieber questioned Jeffries’ ability to “rationally assist” with potential factual and legal defenses to the allegations he faced, according to the document.
The filing comes after Jeffries’ legal team requested a competency hearing, which will now take place over two days, June 16 and 17, 2025.
Federal prosecutors for the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.
Jeffries resigned as chief executive and chairman of A&F in 2014, leaving with a $25m (£19.9m) retirement package.
In parallel with the criminal case, A&F, Jeffries and their partner have been defending a civil lawsuit that accuses the retailer of having financed a sex trafficking operation.
Earlier this month, Jeffries sued A&F after it refused to pay his criminal defense costs.arguing that the brand had agreed to indemnify him for all claims arising from his position.
