Ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries' sex trafficking, prostitution trial to start in January

Ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries, who was recently ruled competent to stand trial on allegations that he operated an international sex trafficking ring in the Hamptons and other locales, will go on trial next year, the presiding judge in the case said Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury agreed to delay the start of the trial, which had been scheduled to begin Oct. 26, until January in response to a request from Jeffries’ lawyer.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Jan. 4.

Last week, Choudhury rejected arguments from Jeffries’ defense that he is not competent to stand trial, citing his diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Choudhury, in a 157-page ruling, said that Jeffries has a “more than sufficient ability” to aid in his defense and deemed him competent to stand trial.

"He has demonstrated abilities to ask pertinent questions, engage in critical thinking, follow and fully participate in a conversation, express himself, learn information and recall it days and weeks later, and engage in self-advocacy to advance his interests,” the judge wrote.

Jeffries, 82, of West Palm Beach, Florida, has pleaded not guilty to one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution. 

Prosecutors have said Jeffries ran the sex trafficking operation with his co-defendants Matthew C. Smith, his romantic partner, and James Jacobson, who prosecutors said recruited men for Jeffries and Smith to have sexual encounters with between December 2008 and March 2015.

Smith, a British citizen who also lives in West Palm Beach, and Jacobson, of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, have also pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution’s case is expected to take two months to try, prosecutor Megan Farrell told the judge Thursday during a brief telephone conference during which scheduling was discussed. Some 75 witnesses could be called.

The defense thinks the trial will last closer to three months, given the logistics of trying all three defendants at once. The trial will take place five days a week, but only in the afternoons, the judge said.

Jeffries, who ran the clothing retailer from 1992 to 2014, was indicted in October 2024.

In May 2025, Choudhury ruled that Jeffries was unfit to stand trial, citing his dementia and Alzheimer’s diagnoses. But the judge ordered Jeffries to commit to a monthslong evaluation at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina. Doctors there determined he was mentally fit.

Jeffries’ Miami-based attorney, Brian H. Bieber, has presented to the court the findings of multiple doctors who have said Jeffries suffered from several cognitive disorders and diseases, including Alzheimer’s, that left him incompetent to stand trial.

Earlier this year, Choudhury held a hearing to determine Jeffries’ competency. A clinical neuropsychologist testified that Jeffries appeared “confused” and a had a “shuffling gait” during a 2023 cognitive assessment she performed on him.

Prosecutors have alleged that Jeffries and his co-defendants forced men into sex by fraudulently offering the possibility of modeling for Abercrombie & Fitch at properties in Water Mill, New York City and other locations between December 2008 and March 2015. The victims said they were given alcohol, Viagra and muscle relaxers.

There are dozens of alleged victims and many of them "aspired to become models in the fashion industry," prosecutors have said, adding that the youngest was 19 years old. Some of the victims had worked at Abercrombie & Fitch stores or had modeled for the brand, according to prosecutors.  

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.