By Khadeeja Safdar
Former Abercrombie & Fitch boss Mike Jeffries is suffering from dementia and is unfit to stand trial for alleged sex crimes, according to a court filing released on Thursday.
Jeffries was 80 years old when he was arrested and charged in October with running an international sex-trafficking ring. Prosecutors said he pressured male models into attending sex parties, paying the men for sex and plying them with drugs.
Brian Bieber, a lawyer for Jeffries, said in Thursday's court filing that his client has been evaluated by doctors in recent months who determined that Jeffries is suffering from severe dementia and is unfit to proceed to trial.
A psychiatrist hired by the defense found Jeffries was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive disorders requiring round-the-clock care. An expert selected by prosecutors also found Jeffries was suffering from dementia that will "almost certainty worsen over time."
The filing asks the judge to place Jeffries in hospitalization for four months to observe whether he regains competency. The filing says prosecutors, which brought the case, don't object to the motion.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.
Matthew Smith, Jeffries's longtime romantic partner, and an employee of the couple were also arrested and charged with sex crimes. Jeffries and his co-defendants entered not guilty pleas to the charges.
The indictment alleged that from 2008 to 2015, Jeffries misled some of his victims into thinking they were attending modeling shoots rather than sex parties. Jeffries, who ran Abercrombie from 1992 until 2014, included Abercrombie products in the sex parties and some of his victims felt pressured to participate to avoid harming their careers, according to the indictment.
Brad Edwards, a lawyer who brought a civil case against Jeffries on behalf of his accusers, said, "We hope he is rehabilitated and faces the penalty he deserves. Regardless, he cannot and will not avoid liability in our civil class action lawsuit."
Write to Khadeeja Safdar at khadeeja.safdar@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 10, 2025 20:56 ET (00:56 GMT)
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