Former CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch, Mike Jeffries, walks out of federal court docket after his arraignment on expenses with the trafficking of male fashions for intercourse events world wide, in Central Islip, New York on October 25, 2024.
Adam Grey | AFP | Getty Photographs
Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries and his affiliate pleaded not responsible Friday to federal felony expenses that he sexually exploited dozens of males, a lot of whom sought to be fashions for the clothes model.
Jeffries, 80, and James Jacobson, 71, appeared in U.S. District Courtroom in Lengthy Island, New York, three days after being arrested on intercourse trafficking and interstate prostitution expenses.
The graphic 16-count indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses Jeffries and his romantic companion Matthew Smith, 61, of working a global intercourse trafficking enterprise over greater than six years, most of which overlapped with Jeffries’ tenure as CEO of Abercrombie.
Jacobson allegedly labored as a recruiter for the “Intercourse Occasions,” and would allegedly require potential candidates to take part in “tryouts” with him.
The defendants allegedly used “coercive, fraudulent and misleading” recruiting techniques, together with by main males “to imagine that attending the Intercourse Occasions might yield modeling alternatives with Abercrombie or in any other case profit their careers,” the indictment says.
If convicted, Jeffries and Jacobson face a most sentence of life in jail on the intercourse trafficking cost alone, and a compulsory minimal of 15 years behind bars. They may additionally obtain as a lot as 20 years behind bars if convicted on all 15 counts of interstate prostitution.
“As we speak’s listening to was procedural in nature, bond has been set to make sure Michael’s look in court docket and naturally we entered a plea of not responsible,” Brian Bieber, an legal professional for Jeffries, advised CNBC in a cellphone name after the arraignment.
Smith was additionally arrested Tuesday and faces the identical expenses. He and Jeffries had been each arrested in Florida, whereas Jacobson was arrested in Wisconsin, the place he lives.
A federal Justice of the Peace decide launched Jeffries on a $10 million bond, plus dwelling confinement and placement monitoring circumstances, at his preliminary court docket look in West Palm Seaside on Tuesday afternoon.
Smith was ordered to be held in custody pending his arraignment at a later date as a result of as a citizen of the U.Ok., he poses a better flight threat.
Jacobson was launched on a $500,000 bond after showing in federal court docket in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Tuesday afternoon. He’s additionally restricted to dwelling confinement with digital monitoring.
