THE FORMER BOSS of fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch has pleaded not guilty sex trafficking and prostitution charges in New York. Ex-chief executive Mike Jeffries, 80, his partner Matthew Smith, 61, and a third man, James Jacobson, 71, were arrested in the US on Tuesday morning after being charged with one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution. Jeffries, who was Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive from 1992 to 2014, denied the charges at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Long Island, on Friday.
Jacobson also planned to plead not guilty, his lawyer said. No date has been set for Smith. If convicted of the sex trafficking charge, the defendants face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum of 15 years.
Jeffries is free on a 10 million dollar bond and will be back in court on December 12. Announcing charges earlier this week, a prosecutor said Jeffries used his “power, his wealth and his influence to traffic men for his own sexual pleasure and that of his romantic partner, Matthew Smith”. Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Jacobson allegedly engaged in “try-outs with men across the world”, after which Smith would “personally approve” them.
The men were then allegedly flown to Jeffries and Smith’s homes in the Hamptons on Long Island, or to hotels around the world, including in England, France, Italy and Morocco. Mr Peace said Jeffries and Smith, both from Florida, and Jacobso.
