A federal judge has ruled that Michael Jeffries, the 82-year-old former Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive, is mentally competent to stand trial on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges, overturning a previous finding of incompetence linked to dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
US District Court Judge Nusrat Choudhury concluded that Jeffries possesses a rational understanding of the proceedings after reviewing medical reports, expert assessments, and more than 21 hours of recorded phone calls made while he was in custody. Jeffries had spent roughly four months at a federal prison hospital in Butner, North Carolina, where officials deemed him fit in December. His defence team had argued he required round-the-clock care for Alzheimer's, Lewy body dementia, and a traumatic brain injury.
Jeffries, currently free on bond, faces over a dozen charges alongside co-defendants Matthew Smith and James Jacobson. Prosecutors allege the trio lured men with modelling promises to drug-fuelled sex parties in New York City and the Hamptons. All three have pleaded not guilty. The trial is set for 26 October, with shortened daily sessions to accommodate the defendant's age.