Ex-Abercrombie CEO deemed fit for sex trafficking trial in January

A federal judge set a Jan. 4, 2027 trial date for former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries, ruling him mentally competent to face sex trafficking charges after a three-day evaluation at a federal medical facility. Jeffries, 82, is charged alongside partner Matthew Smith and a third defendant, James Jacobson, with running an international sex trafficking and prostitution scheme involving men recruited from Abercrombie's stores and modeling ranks.

Judge Nusrat Choudhury's 157-page ruling drew on more than 21 hours of recorded phone calls in which Jeffries discussed the 2025 New York mayoral election, Giorgio Armani's death, and Sean Combs' pardon request, concluding he retains sufficient understanding to assist his defense despite Alzheimer's and dementia diagnoses.

The 16-count indictment alleges victims were injected with erection medication and coerced into nonconsensual sex at events in New York, the Hamptons, and abroad, with fifteen victims named though prosecutors say dozens more were targeted. Trial will run only in afternoons to accommodate Jeffries' health, with prosecutors estimating a two-month case.

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