A letter from former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries’ legal team, filed this week, claims that he may not be fit to stand trial in his ongoing sex trafficking case due to an alleged diagnosis of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
The document, filed in New York and reviewed by NPR, details how 80-year-old Jeffries underwent an in-depth neuropsychological evaluation in October, after his attorney Brian Bieber began noticing a questionable level of “attentiveness, focus, competency, and understanding of the legal and factual issues being discussed.”
Jeffries was arrested in October as part of a federal investigation into a sex trafficking and interstate prostitution case that spans years of alleged abuse from 2008 to 2015. It came one year after bombshell allegations emerged in which eight men accused Jeffries and his inner circle of sexually exploiting them at lavish parties around the world.
Jeffries was taken into custody in West Palm Beach, Fla., and was brought to New York for arraignment, where he and two accomplices each were faced with one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution.
The other two are Matthew Smith, Jeffries’ longtime romantic partner, who allegedly attended the parties with Jeffries; and James Jacobson, who allegedly recruited victims and acted as a middle man in arranging sex events.
Prosecutors allege the drug-fueled sex parties were often tied to the lure of prospective modeling opportunities for young men drawn to one of the biggest clothing brands in America at the time.
The extent of the allegations, which included hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on a “secret staff” to run these events and keep alleged victims quiet, called for the state of New York to request that Jeffries be held on a $10 million bond.
But according to the results of his evaluation detailed in the letter this week, the controversial retail magnate is suffering from a “neurological deficit,” with a diagnosis of dementia with behavioral disturbance, late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
All three conditions, his doctor wrote, are irreversible and will continue to worsen over time. The doctor claimed that the combination of Jeffries’ cognitive impairments rendered him “[in]capable of assisting his attorney in his own defense.”
It’s not the first time neurocognitive decline has been cited as a potential roadblock for a sexual abuse case: Former adult film star Ron Jeremy, who had pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of sexual assault, including 12 counts of rape, had his trial paused last year when a California judge declared him incompetent to stand trial following similar health issues to Jeffries. Accusers who were ready to testify against the actor were left distressed and disappointed.
A competency hearing for Jeffries has been scheduled for June, to determine whether the case against him can move forward.
