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CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CN) — Mike Jeffries, former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he induced young men to perform sex acts under the guise of landing them modeling opportunities using his title as head of the national clothing brand.
Jeffries, who headed Abercrombie & Fitch from 1992 to 2014, was indicted earlier this week on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges after a federal investigation revealed the executive coerced young men into traveling within the United States and abroad and forced them to perform sex acts at parties Jeffries hosted.
According to the indictment, Jeffries recruited over a dozen young models from 2009 to 2015 and pressured them to drink alcohol and take erection-inducing injections.
While prosecutors only identify 15 victims in the indictment, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York said Tuesday that “dozens and dozens” of men were targeted.
Jeffries was released on a $10 million bond, secured by his wife and son, in addition to his home in Fisher Island, New York. While awaiting trial, he will be confined to home detention.
He is charged alongside his romantic partner Matthew Smith and their recruiter James Jacobson. Jacobson also pleaded not guilty Friday.
Jacobson was released on a $500,000 bond and will also be in home confinement while awaiting trial.
Like Jeffries, Jacobson was ordered to refrain from contacting his co-defendants, witnesses or victims.
But since the victims noted in the indictment are not identified by name, Jacobson’s attorney said there could be a risk of “incidental contact” with the victims.
“Obviously we don’t know who the victims are,” said Jeremy Schneider, an attorney with Rothman Schneider representing Jacobson.
But U.S. District Judge Steven Tiscione shrugged off that concern.
“I think your client probably has a good idea who they are,” Tiscione said Friday.
According to prosecutors, Jacobson travelled throughout the United States to recruit young men for Jeffries’ sex events where they were required to drink alcohol and take muscle relaxants, as well as wear costumes and use sex toys.
Jeffries and Smith also either personally or directed others to inject the men with prescription-grade erection-inducing substances directly in their penises if they were unwilling or incapable of performing certain sex acts.
The men were also required to sign nondisclosure agreements which prohibited them from telling their family and friends about the sex events and required them to pay an unspecified sum if they did.
Jeffries has been under fire in recent years for his purported sex parties, and his arrest comes one year after BBC News published an investigation that found Jeffries exploited men at these events. The report details the experiences of 12 men who said they attended or organized events that included sex acts for Jeffries and Smith from 2009 to 2015.
Shortly after the BBC report, dozens of men filed a class action against Abercrombie & Fitch, claiming the company was complicit in Jeffries’ decadelong sex trafficking scheme.
Smith will be arraigned in New York at a later date that has yet to be determined.
Jeffries is represented by Brian Bieber of Gray Robinson and Smith is represented by Joe Nascimento and Dave Raben of Ross Amsel.
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