Mike Jeffries, longtime CEO of mall retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, was charged with sex trafficking over parties where dozens of young men were allegedly paid for sex with money, drugs and modeling gigs. But now he has dementia and late-onset Alzheimers disease, his lawyers claim.
Brian H. Bieber, an attorney for Jeffries, began questioning the businessman's attentiveness, competency and focus, the filing states. "The Michael Jeffries who presented himself did not even come close to resembling a master's degree-educated individual, who was just nine years earlier, the chief executive officer of a publicly traded company," the document says. The court filing says that Bieber "questioned Mr. Jeffries' competency to rationally assist—on a sustained and consistent basis—counsel in connection with the possible factual and legal defenses to the allegations he was facing."
Jeffries was famous for two things: turning the "fashion backwater" into a modern lifestyle brand with advertising and hiring practices so racist even a conservative U.S. Supreme Court kicked it in the teeth, and for his unique facial appearance following cosmetic surgery.
