Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, was arrested on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges in West Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday along with his partner Matthew Smith, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Both Jeffries and Smith are currently grappling with a civil lawsuit that accuses them – and the apparel company that Jeffries used to run – of participating and maintaining “intentional involvement” in a “widespread sex-trafficking operation,” with Jeffries allegedly “us[ing] his role as CEO of Abercrombie to prey upon attractive young men who believed that [he] was going to hire them as an Abercrombie model.”
According to a 16-count indictment, which was unsealed in federal court in New York on Tuesday, Jeffries, Smith, and a third person, James Jacobson, used “a combination of force, fraud, and coercion to traffic men while operating a prostitution enterprise.” In a statement, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) said that all three men were arrested on Tuesday morning and that Jeffries and Smith were scheduled for an initial appearance in the U.S. District for the Southern District of Florida on the same day.
“As alleged in the indictment, former CEO of Abercrombie Mike Jeffries, his partner Matthew Smith, and their recruiter James Jacobson used their money and influence to prey on vulnerable men for their own sexual gratification,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a statement. “Today’s arrests show that my Office and our law enforcement partners will not rest until anyone who engages in sex trafficking or interstate prostitution, regardless of their wealth or power, is brought to justice.”
The indictment presents a grim portrait of “alleged abhorrent behavior,” with the defendants allegedly relying on Jeffries’ “[v]ast financial resources” as the CEO of Abercrombie to “run a business that was dedicated to fulfilling their sexual desires and ensuring their international sex trafficking and prostitution business was kept secret” in order to maintain Jeffries’ “powerful reputation.” The DOJ goes on to claim that Jeffries and Smith, who allegedly “paid for dozens of men … to travel within the United States and internationally” to meet them and “among other things, wear costumes, use sex toys or prepare for particular sexual acts” after they had been provided alcohol and muscle relaxers, along with various other sex trafficking and interstate prostitution allegations.
An Ongoing Case
The arrest and indictment – which alleges one count of sex trafficking and fifteen counts of interstate prostitution – come nearly a year after former Abercrombie model David Bradberry sued Jeffries, Smith, and Abercrombie in New York federal court, claiming that Jeffries “victimized dozens and likely over a hundred young men with the assistance of a wide network of co-conspirators, including Abercrombie.” Jeffries’s victims were led to believe that such abuse was a necessary precursor to Jeffries “hir[ing] them as Abercrombie models – the pinnacle of the modeling industry for men during the relevant time period” and that they “would suffer serious physical, financial, and reputational harm to the point that their careers would be completely destroyed if ever they disclosed the Abercrombie/Jeffries/Smith method of recruiting and sexually abusing.” At the same time, he alleges that Abercrombie not only knew about such activities but received “direct financial benefits” by turning a blind eye to the alleged behavior of “its cash cow CEO.”
That case is currently underway in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In fact, earlier this month, both Jeffries and Smith filed motions to dismiss the case, which followed a similar motion that was lodged by Abercrombie. Jeffries stated in a supporting memorandum of law that he “vehemently denies every allegation” that Bradberry has made against him and that the underlying complaint is “rife with inflammatory language, speculative assertions based on information and belief, and an unfounded attempt to link [Jeffries] to alleged criminal activities.”
In Jeffries’ memo, his counsel asks the court “to look beyond the sensationalized narrative presented by [Bradberry]” and to address the “glaring legal deficiencies” in the complaint. Specifically, Jeffries maintains that Bradberry’s claims are time-barred under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, that he failed to bring an actionable claim under the Gender-Motivated Violence Act, and that New York Law does not provide a private right of action for criminal violations related to battery and sexual offense, among other claims.
Jeffries’ motion to dismiss was followed two weeks later by Bradberry’s own opposition filing to the company’s motion to dismiss, in which he asserted that Abercrombie knew about Jeffries’ behavior but “ultimately decided to keep Jeffries at the helm” of the corporation and that it “knew and understood that Jeffries’s sexual abuse and trafficking was part and parcel of his marketing vision – one did not exist without the other.” Abercrombie “willfully turned a blind eye to [Jeffries’] blatant misconduct so that the company would remain profitable during the most prominent years of Jeffries’s abuse,” Bradberry states, going on to contend that his claims are timely and valid and supported by detailed factual allegations.
Neither Jeffries nor Abercrombie were immediately available for comment.
The case is Bradberry v. Abercrombie & Fitch Co., et al., 1:23-cv-09440 (SDNY).
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