Former longtime CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch Michael Jefferies may have dementia, and needs a competency hearing to determine whether he can face sex charges, his lawyers claim.
Jeffries' defense attorneys said in court documents unsealed Monday in federal court in Central Islip on Long Island that a neuropsychologist who examined Jeffries in October concluded that he had behavioral disturbances, Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. There is a possibility of dementia.
Jeffries, 80, is free on $10 million bond plead not guilty Charged with federal sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges in October. was a former CEO arrested Indicted that same month on charges of engaging in sex trafficking and interstate prostitution, prosecutors claimed Jeffries took advantage of his position as CEO to lure young men for sex by suggesting they model for the fashion company,
The lawyers wrote that neuropsychologists concluded that cognitive impairments, including impaired memory, reduced attention, slowed processing speed and ease of confusion, meant Jeffries would not be able to assist his attorneys.
In a joint letter to the judge, defense attorneys and prosecutors suggested that the experts who evaluated Jeffries testify at a two-day competency hearing in June to decide his competency. A spokesman for prosecutors said Tuesday the office would have no further comment.
Jeffries' arrest comes after a 2023 lawsuit A petition filed by an actor has alleged that the former CEO ran a sex trafficking operation that targeted aspiring male models. In the current case, prosecutors say Jeffries, her romantic partner and a third man lured men to attend drug-fueled sex parties in the Hamptons, Long Island, with the promise of modeling for a retailer's ads.
Jefferies left Abercrombie in 2014 after more than two decades leading the clothing retailer, which was once famous for its preppy, all-American aesthetic and marketing with shirtless male models.
In an indictment unveiled in October, prosecutors alleged that 15 defendants were induced by “force, fraud and coercion” to attend sex parties in New York City and the Hamptons from 2008 to 2015, on Long Island. There is an affluent summer resort, where Jeffries has a house. At home, as well as in hotels in England, France, Italy, Morocco and St. Barts.
Prosecutors say the men were sometimes directed to wear costumes, use sex toys and endure painful injections that caused pain in the penis.