Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries pleads not guilty to sex trafficking charges

Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries and an alleged accomplice pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

Jeffries and James Jacobson entered their pleas during a brief appearance at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, N.Y.

When he entered the courtroom, Jeffries did not acknowledge Jacobson and let his attorney, Brian H. Bieber, do the talking for him.

“We plead not guilty, your honor,” Bieber said.

Jeffries remains free on the $10 million bond he posted during his first court appearance in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday. But he has had to surrender his passport and must remain in Florida, or New York City and Long Island.

Jacobson’s bond was set at $500,000 and he was ordered not to leave Wisconsin, where he lives.

It was not immediately clear why Jeffries’ romantic partner, Matthew Smith, who was also arrested Tuesday on sex trafficking charges, did not attend the arraignment.

Like Jeffries, Smith lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. But after their first court appearance in that city on Tuesday, Jeffries was released on a $10 million bond, confined to his GPS-monitored home and ordered to surrender his passport.

Smith, on the other hand, was ordered held behind bars until his next court appearance, which was expected to take place Friday in Central Islip.

Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson each face a single count of sex trafficking, as well as 15 counts of interstate prostitution linked to 15 alleged victims.

Jeffries’ attorney, Bieber, said in a statement Tuesday in response to Jeffries’ arrest: “We will respond in detail to the allegations after the indictment is unsealed, and as appropriate, but intend to do so in the courthouse – not in the media.”

The trio, a federal indictment alleges, operated an “international sex trafficking and prostitution business” from 2008 to 2015.

They organized “sex events” in England, France, Italy, Morocco, St. Barts, New York City and The Hamptons for Jeffries, Smith and “others,” the indictment said.

They “used coercive, fraudulent and deceptive tactics in connection with the recruitment, hiring, transportation, acquisition, retention, solicitation and payment of men to engage in commercial sex,” it says.

The male recruits, most of them aspiring models, were led to believe “that failure to comply with requests for certain acts during the sex events could harm their careers,” the complaint alleges.

“Many of the victims, at least one of whom was as young as 19 years old, were financially vulnerable and aspired to become models in the fashion industry, a notoriously cutthroat world,” prosecutors said in a memo to the court. “Some of the men they recruited had previously worked at Abercrombie stores or modeled for Abercrombie.”

Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson also allegedly paid certain members of the household staff to “facilitate and supervise the sex events” by, among other things, ensuring that the young men surrendered their wallets and cell phones.

These staffers, the indictment says, also provided Jeffries, Smith and the men present with alcohol, muscle relaxants known as “poppers,” lubricant, Viagra and condoms, among other things.

After that, it was Jacobson or staff members who paid the men to attend the sex events, it said.

The trio also employed a “full-service security firm” to manage non-disclosure agreements, conduct background checks and, when necessary, intimidate victims, prosecutors alleged in their detention memo.

“On occasions when witnesses threatened to expose or prosecute them, Jeffries and Smith relied on the services of a security company to monitor and intimidate these individuals, thereby securing their silence,” the report said.

The trio used burner phones for communication, the memo alleges.

Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said at a news conference Tuesday that Jeffries and Smith spent millions on the sex trade, using the money to pay their staffers and buy their silence.

Some victims, the detention memo said, were also paid directly in cash, worth “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Peace said the operation used a referral system and interview process, with the men allegedly targeted being kept in the dark about the details of the sex events before they attended.

During “tryouts” of potential participants, Jacobson typically first had candidates perform commercial sex acts on him, the complaint said.

Later, during the sex events, Jeffries and Smith had staff members inject some victims with “a prescription erection-inducing drug for the purpose of causing the men to perform sexual acts that they were otherwise physically unable or unwilling to perform,” investigators said. arrest note alleges.

“On more than one occasion where men were unwilling or unable to consent, Jeffries and Smith violated the physical integrity of these men by subjecting or continuing to subject them to invasive sexual and violent contact with body parts and other objects,” Peace said.

Prosecutors said they have “dozens of witnesses” who could testify, according to the document.

Federal investigators learned through media reports what Jeffries and the others allegedly did.

The BBC published an explosive report a year ago said that Jeffries was accused of exploiting men at sex parties he organized. The report states that 12 men described attending or organizing events, including sex acts for Jeffries and his partner Smith, and that the events took place from 2009 to 2015. Some men who spoke to the BBC said they were exploited or that they did. not participate voluntarily.

Bieber told NBC News at the time that Jeffries did not want to comment on reports about his personal life. But Abercrombie & Fitch said it was “shocked and disgusted” by the allegations in the BBC report.

Jeffries was the controversial CEO of Abercrombie from 1992 to 2014, during which time the popular apparel posted a 10-figure annual income. But the company was also hit with harsh criticism for using mostly white models and selling T-shirts that were considered racist. The company also faced challenges multiple discrimination lawsuits during Jeffries’ reign.

Shortly after the BBC report, Abercrombie & Fitch and Jeffries were sued over allegations that they turned a blind eye to the allegations against Jeffries. That civil lawsuit, which records show remains unresolved, alleged that he sexually assaulted numerous men after luring them with the promise of coveted modeling contracts. CNBC reports this.