Michael Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch who was charged with running an international sex trafficking scheme over several years while he ran the company, is mentally competent for trial, a federal judge ruled.In her 157-page ruling, U.S.District Judge Nusrat Choudhury found, after reviewing testimony, medical expert reports, and hours of phone calls made by Jeffries, that he is cleared to face a jury in October on Long Island.
“Jeffries clearly possesses a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings to adjudicate his criminal charges,” said Choudhury, who added that he is a “reasonably intelligent person and skilled communicator who possesses a more than sufficient ability to consult with his lawyers.”Jeffries’ legal team had previously argued that he was unfit to stand trial due to dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, prompting Choudhury to order him to be hospitalized to evaluate his mental fitness.Choudhury said Jeffries’ 109 phone calls made during his four-month stint at the federal medical center to be “particularly illuminating.” “On the calls, Jeffries is a fluent conversational partner and shows that he has the ability to learn new information auditorily and to retrieve it days or weeks later, particularly where the subject is important to him,” she said.
Choudhury pointed to a recorded phone call, where Jeffries told Smith that he was concerned about going to trial and that, if he were found guilty, “they’ll take all our money away.”It “will be a disaster for us in terms of time, effort, money, every way you can say it,” Jeffries said in another call to Smith, according to the ruling.Still, Choudhury said she would accommodate Jeffries by holding trial from 1:00pm to 5:00pm and allowing Jeffries to review transcripts and discuss legal strategy with his lawyers each morning.
Brian Bieber, an attorney of Jeffries, declined an NBC News request to comment on the ruling.“The case, and ...