Following a months-long hospitalization and evaluation, U.S. Bureau of Prison officials have deemed that former Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive officer Mike Jeffries is mentally fit to stand trial on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges.
In May, the former corporate leader’s lawyers said Jeffries was unfit to stand trial, due to signs of Alzheimer’s disease. In 2024, Jeffries was accused of operating an international sex operation that involved using his power and phony modeling opportunities to take advantage of dozens of men at various locations, including luxury hotels. Facing one charge of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution, he pled not guilty last year and was released on a $10 million bond.
Related Articles
Jeffries’ life partner Matthew Smith and James Jacobson, who was said to have been a middleman in the operation, were also arrested and pled not guilty last year. Prosecutors, and the three men, as well as their respective lawyers, took part in a virtual status hearing Thursday morning in the U.S. federal court in Central Islip, N.Y.
You May Also Like
Earlier this year Jeffries’ legal team and prosecutors had requested that he be hospitalized in federal Bureau of Prisons custody so he could receive treatment that could allow his criminal case to proceed. The former executive was hospitalized at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, N.C., and was released from that facility on Nov. 21. For Thursday’s status hearing, he was with his attorney Brian Bieber in the conference room of Bieber’s office.
On Wednesday, a Certificate of Restoration of Competency to Stand Trial was issued by B. Lott, an acting warden in the Bureau of Prisons, and sent to Justice Nusrat J. Choudhury, who is overseeing the case against Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson. Lott wrote in his letter to the judge that Jeffries could be returned to his district by the U.S. Marshal Service, “if appropriate.”
Jeffries is “able to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against humans to assist properly in his defense,” according to the report filed by prison officials.
During Thursday’s hearing, Jeffries’ attorney, as well as those for Smith and Jacobson, and the prosecution, indicated that they need more time to consider the report that Lott submitted Wednesday and to seek further consultation with doctors who had previously evaluated Jeffries and other medical professionals. Given that, Choudhury decided not to set a date for a competency hearing, but she suggested that one could possibly be held in late March. She also spoke of the prospect of starting the trial for all three men on Oct. 26.
The trial is expected to last for three to four weeks, “given the volume of information,” according to Choudhury. Although a motion for severance has not been filed, should that happen, there would be separate trials. If Jeffries is deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial, there would be no trail for his case.
Some of the alleged incidents were said to have happened during his tenure at Abercrombie & Fitch, which was from 1992 to 2014.
Asked about prison officials’ evaluation of Jeffries, an attorney representing several of Jeffries’ accusers, Brad Edwards, founding partner of Edwards Henderson, said Thursday, “Our clients are not surprised at all, and we all look forward to Mike Jeffries and his co-defendants being held accountable for these horrific charges in court.”
Bieber said Thursday morning, “The government and Mr. Jeffries’ doctors found him incompetent to proceed. A doctor for the Bureau of Prisons found a different opinion. We look forward to the judge hearing the medical evidence, and deciding on the appropriate course of action.”
Jacobson allegedly was employed by Jeffries and Smith to recruit, interview and hire men to perform commercial sex acts for Jeffries and Smith, according to the indictment. The federal indictment claimed that from 2008 to 2015, Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson operated an international sex trafficking and prostitution enterprise with the help of a network of employees, contractors, security professionals, and others. Jeffries and Smith were said to have relied on their financial resources and Jeffries’ power as Abercrombie & Fitch’s CEO, as well as the help of others to operate a venture that was dedicated to fulfilling their sexual desires.
The men are accused of not informing men about the details of the sex events, nor what would be expected of them before they attended them.
Jeffries and Smith allegedly paid for dozens of men to travel within the U.S. and abroad for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts with Jeffries, Smith and others. Jacobson allegedly traveled domestically and internationally to interview and recruit prospects, who sometimes required “try-outs” with him that involved sexual acts. What the U.S. attorney office described last fall as “sex events” were allegedly held in the Hamptons and hotels in England, France, Italy, Morocco and Saint Barthélémy, among other places.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Dec. 11, 2025 at 5:03 pm.