Ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO fit to stand trial, prison officials say

The former chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch is now fit to stand trial on sex- trafficking and prostitution charges after spending months in hospital, prison officials say.

Mike Jeffries was declared “mentally incompetent” by a court in May and said to be suffering with dementia and late onset of Alzheimer’s disease. A judge ordered him to be treated for up to four months to see if he was likely to regain competency.

US prosecutors now say that medical experts have found him competent to stand trial.

Mr Jeffries was arrested and charged last October along with his British partner, Matthew Smith, 61, and their alleged middleman, James Jacobson, 72. All three deny the allegations.

Mr Jeffries, 81, was released from FMC Butner – a federal prison in North Carolina for men with special health needs – in late November, according to court documents.

Writing to Judge Nusrat Choudhury, prosecutors said that prison officials had concluded that Mr Jeffries was “able to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him and to assist properly in his own defense”.

In a court hearing on Thursday, assistant US attorney Megan Farrell said this followed an assessment by a neuropsychologist and psychologist.

A final competency hearing will be set for early 2026 with prosecutors requesting a trial date for October next year, the court heard.

One alleged victim, who asked to remain anonymous as he’s been interviewed by the FBI as part of its criminal investigation, said he was shocked and relieved by the latest opinion that Mr Jeffries is fit to stand trial.

“For the first time, it feels like we’re now moving toward a future where he must answer for what happened and for what so many of us endured.

“It means the truth could finally be heard in a courtroom, and for survivors, that moment for accountability has been a long time coming.

“I hope the system will finally require him to stand up and face the weight of everything he’s spent years avoiding.”

The former fashion executive and two others were charged with running an international sex-trafficking and prostitution business from at least 2008-2015.

All three have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Federal prosecutors accused them of using their money and influence to prey on vulnerable men for their own sexual gratification and said they used force, fraud and coercion to make aspiring models engage in “violent and exploitative” sexual acts.

Their arrests followed a 2023 BBC documentary and ongoing podcast series that revealed the trio had been at the centre of a sophisticated operation scouting young men for sex around the world while Mr Jeffries was chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch.

In March, a court ruled that Abercrombie & Fitch had to pay for Mr Jeffries’ criminal defence costs – a figure lawyers say is likely to run into millions – as a result of an indemnification agreement he signed while stepping down in 2014.

Then, in May, Brian Bieber, Mr Jeffries’ criminal defence lawyer, said his client had been evaluated by doctors who determined he had Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy Body disease, and the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury requiring around-the-clock care, which was supported by two medical experts.

Alongside criminal charges, Mr Jeffries, his partner Matthew Smith and Abercrombie & Fitch have been defending multiple civil lawsuits brought by alleged victims.

Earlier this year, the BBC revealed that more than 40 men have now come forward with civil allegations of rape, sexual assault or drugging, accusations Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith “vehemently deny”.

Abercrombie & Fitch did not respond to requests for comment, though it has previously said that it had no knowledge of alleged sexual misconduct or sex trafficking and “up until the moment that the BBC’s reporting was released in October 2023, there was nothing public about the allegations against Jeffries”.

It said that new leadership had since transformed the company, and it has “zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or discrimination of any kind”.