Lawyers for ex-Abercrombie CEO say he has dementia and may not be able to stand trial

Michael Jeffries, the former longtime CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, may have dementia, and a competency hearing is needed to determine if he can face sex charges, his attorneys claim.

Defense lawyers for Jeffries said in court papers unsealed Monday in federal court in Central Islip on Long Island that a neuropsychologist who examined Jeffries in October concluded he likely has dementia with behavioral disturbance, Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

Jeffries, 80, is free on $10 million bond after pleading not guilty in October to federal sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges. The former CEO was arrested that same month on charges of sex trafficking and engaging in interstate prostitution, with prosecutors claiming Jeffries leveraged his position as CEO to lure young men into sex by suggesting they could model for the fashion company, 

The lawyers wrote that the neuropsychologist concluded that cognitive impairments, including impaired memory, diminished attention, processing speed slowness, and ease of confusion means Jeffries would not be capable of assisting his attorneys.

In a joint letter to the judge, defense lawyers and prosecutors suggested that experts who have evaluated Jeffries testify at a two-day competency hearing in June so that a ruling on competency can follow. A spokesperson for prosecutors said Tuesday that the office would have no further comment.

Jeffries arrest came after a 2023 lawsuit filed by an actor that alleged the former CEO ran a sex trafficking operation that targeted aspiring male models. In the current case, prosecutors say Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man lured men into drug-fueled sex parties in the Hamptons, on Long Island, by dangling the promise of modeling for the retailer’s ads.

Jeffries left Abercrombie in 2014 after more than two decades leading the clothing retailer once famous for its preppy, all-American aesthetic and marketing with shirtless male models.

In an indictment unveiled in October, prosecutors alleged that 15 accusers were induced by “force, fraud and coercion” to engage in sex parties from 2008 to 2015 in New York City and the Hamptons, the wealthy summertime resort on Long Island where Jeffries has a home, as well as at 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 erection-inducing penile injections.