A federal choose dominated Friday that the previous CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch will not be competent to face trial on intercourse trafficking expenses and ordered him hospitalized to see if his psychological situation improves.
Michael Jeffries’ attorneys sought the ruling final month, writing in a letter filed in a New York federal courtroom that the 80-year-old requires around-the-clock care as a result of he has Alzheimer’s illness, Lewy physique dementia and the “residual effects of a traumatic brain injury.”
The protection, in addition to prosecutors, requested that Jeffries be positioned in federal Bureau of Prisons custody so he will be hospitalized and obtain remedy that may permit his legal case to proceed.
“The court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant is presently suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to the extent that he is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or to assist properly in his defense,” Choose Nusrat Choudhury wrote in his determination.
He directed the Legal professional Common’s workplace to position Jeffries in a hospital for as much as 4 months.
Jeffries has been free on $10 million bond since pleading not responsible in October to federal expenses of intercourse trafficking and interstate prostitution.
Prosecutors say he, his romantic associate and a 3rd man used the promise of modeling jobs to lure males to drug-fueled intercourse events in New York Metropolis, the Hamptons and different places. The costs introduced in October echo sexual misconduct accusations made in a civil case and the media in recent times.
Of their letter, Jeffries’ attorneys stated at the least 4 medical professionals concluded that their shopper’s cognitive points are “progressive and incurable” and that he won’t “regain his competency and cannot be restored to competency in the future.”
Jeffries left Abercrombie in 2014 after greater than twenty years on the helm. His associate, Matthew Smith, has additionally pleaded not responsible and stays out on bond, as has their co-defendant, James Jacobson.
