Former CEO suffers from dementia, attorneys say

The previous CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) suffers from dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s illness, his authorized staff mentioned in a courtroom doc filed in New York.

Mike Jeffries’ attorneys have requested a listening to to find out whether or not he’s mentally competent to face trial on federal intercourse trafficking costs.

The 80-year-old was arrested together with his companion in October and accused of working a world intercourse trafficking and prostitution enterprise. Each males have pleaded not responsible.

A so-called competency listening to is scheduled for June subsequent 12 months.

Mr Jeffries, who ran US clothes model A&F for twenty years, is accused of working a intercourse trafficking and prostitution enterprise between at the least 2008 and 2015.

U.S. prosecutors say he used his wealth, power and status “to traffic men for his own sexual gratification.”and for the pleasure of his British companion Matthew Smith, 61 years previous.

They mentioned the couple, alongside intermediary James Jacobson, 71, used drive, fraud and coercion to entice weak and aspiring fashions to have interaction in violent sexual acts and exploiters.

All three males pleaded not responsible to the costs towards them and had been launched on bail.

The FBI started investigating final 12 months after the BBC revealed that Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith had sexually exploited males at occasions they hosted all over the world.

THE BBC investigationprinted in October 2023, found that the 2 males had been on the heart of a complicated operation involving a intermediary in search of out younger males for sexual functions.

That very same month, Brian Bieber, Mr. Jeffries’ lawyer, mentioned his shopper had been examined a number of instances by a neuropsychologist who then concluded diagnostic impressions that he suffered from two varieties of dementia and one possible late-onset Alzheimer’s illness.

Within the courtroom submitting, Mr. Bieber added that in an preliminary assembly final 12 months, the previous style boss “did not even appear like a person with a grasp’s diploma, who 9 years earlier was the CEO of a publicly traded firm. .

In consequence, Mr. Bieber questioned Mr. Jeffries’ skill to “rationally help” with doable factual and authorized defenses to the allegations he confronted, in response to the doc.

The submitting comes after Mr. Jeffries’ authorized staff requested a jurisdictional listening to, which can now be held over two days, June 16 and 17, 2025.

Federal prosecutors within the Japanese District of New York declined to remark.

Mr Jeffries resigned as CEO and chairman of A&F in 2014 and walked away with a $25m (£19.9m) retirement bundle.

Together with the prison case, A&F, Mr. Jeffries and his companion defended a civil go well with accusing the retailer of financing a intercourse trafficking operation.

Earlier this month, Mr. Jeffries sued A&F after refusing to pay his criminal defense costs.arguing that the model had agreed to indemnify him for all claims arising from his place.

Heather Cucolo, a professor at New York Regulation College who focuses on psychological incapacity and prison regulation, mentioned there are few statistics on how the justice system treats dementia, however medical consultants ought to give their enter. opinion earlier than the choose makes a ultimate resolution.

“If Mike Jeffries is discovered competent, the case will transfer ahead,” she mentioned. “But when he’s discovered incompetent and it seems that there isn’t a affordable chance that his competence will probably be restored, then the costs must be dropped.”

His companion Matthew Smith and James Jacobson might nonetheless face trial, however prosecutors must depend on impartial proof if Mr Jeffries was additionally discovered to be incompetent to testify as a witness, she added.