NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prison officials say the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch is fit to stand trial on federal sex trafficking charges after he was hospitalized with Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia and a traumatic brain injury.
Michael Jeffries had been ordered to be hospitalized in May. But in a letter filed in federal court in New York on Wednesday, Blake Lott, the acting warden at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina said the 81-year-old is “now competent to stand trial.”
Lott didn’t provide further details in the letter but said the center has provided a report to the judge handling the case. Jeffries had been discharged from FMC-Butner on Nov. 21, according to previous filings in the case.
Brian Bieber, an attorney for Jeffries, responded that other doctors had previously found his client incompetent to proceed.
“A doctor from the Bureau of Prisons is of a different opinion,” he said in an email Wednesday. “We look forward to the Judge hearing the medical evidence, and deciding on the appropriate course of action moving forward.”
The letter comes as prosecutors and Jeffries’ lawyers are expected to confer by phone Thursday with U.S. District Court Judge Nusrat Choudhury on the status of the case.
Jeffries pleaded not guilty last year to federal charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.
His lawyers had argued that the former executive required around-the-clock care and was unable to understand the nature and consequences of the case against him or to assist properly in his defense.
They had said at least four medical professionals concluded that Jeffries’ cognitive issues were “progressive and incurable” and that he would not “regain his competency and cannot be restored to competency in the future.”
Jeffries’ lawyers and prosecutors had requested that he be hospitalized in federal Bureau of Prisons custody so he could receive treatment that might allow his criminal case to proceed.
Choudhury agreed, ordering him placed in a hospital for up to four months. Before then, Jeffries had been free on a $10 million bond.
Prosecutors say Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man used the promise of modeling jobs to lure men to drug-fueled sex parties in New York City, the Hamptons and other locations. The charges echoed sexual misconduct accusations made in a civil case and the media in recent years.
Jeffries left Abercrombie in 2014 after more than two decades at the helm. His partner, Matthew Smith, has also pleaded not guilty and remains out on bond, as has their co-defendant, James Jacobson.
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FILE - Michael Jeffries, former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, leaves following a hearing at the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, in West Palm Beach, Fla., Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Parliament was dissolved Friday for new elections early next year as the country engaged in deadly fighting with Cambodia.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolved the House of Representatives after getting approval from King Maha Vajiralongkorn, whose endorsement became effective Friday with its publication in the Royal Gazette.
Anutin had signaled the move with a Facebook post late Thursday saying: “I’d like to return power to the people.”
The election must be held 45 to 60 days after the royal endorsement, a period during which Anutin will head a caretaker government with limited powers that cannot approve a new budget.
The move comes at a tricky political moment, as Thailand is engaged in large-scale combat with Cambodia over a longstanding border dispute.
Anutin has been prime minister for just three months, succeeding Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who served only a year in office before losing office over a scandal that erupted out of a previous round of border tensions.
Anutin won the September vote in Parliament with support from the main opposition People’s Party in exchange for a promise to dissolve Parliament within four months and organize a referendum on the drafting of a new constitution by an elected constituent assembly.
The party, which runs on progressive platforms, has long sought changes to the constitution, imposed during a military government, saying they want to make it more democratic.
The issue of constitutional change appeared to trigger the dissolution, after the People’s Party prepared to call a no-confidence vote Thursday. That threat came after lawmakers from Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party voted in favor of a bill to amend the constitution that the opposition party felt ran against the spirit of the agreement they had reached in September.
The People's Party holds the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives and is seen as the main challenger to Bhumjaithai. As news of the pending dissolution circulated late Thursday, its leaders said they hoped Anutin would still honor the agreement to arrange a constitutional referendum.
Anutin served in Paetongtarn’s former government but resigned from his positions and withdrew his party from her coalition government as she faced controversy over a phone call with Cambodia's Senate President Hun Sen in June.
Paetongtarn, daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was suspended from office ahead of the July fighting, after being found guilty of ethics violations over the politically compromising call.
With Thailand now again engaged in heavy combat against Cambodia, Anutin has embraced an aggressive military posture to appeal to nationalistic public sentiment, and has said Thailand will keep fighting until its sovereignty and safety are guaranteed.
After the five days of border fighting in July, U.S. President Donald Trump pushed the two countries to agree on a ceasefire by threatening to withhold trade privileges from them.
Trump has vowed again to make peace between them after widespread fighting flared up again this week. If he employs the cudgel of high tariffs on Thai exports should Thailand fail to comply with his peacemaking effort comply, it could cause serious damage to its already sluggish economy.
Trump said twice this week that he expects to speak by phone with the Thai and Cambodian leaders, expressing confidence that he would persuade them to stop the fighting.
Anutin on Friday confirmed that he is scheduled to speak with Trump on Friday night, saying he would brief him on the latest situation along the border.
As of Thursday, about two dozen people had been reported killed in this week’s fighting, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced on both sides. The Thai military estimates that 165 Cambodian soldiers have been killed, though no number has been officially announced by Phnom Penh.
“Anutin has capitalized on the renewed border tensions with Cambodia to portray himself as a leader willing to take a nationalist, hard-line stance in defending Thailand’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” commented Napon Jatusripitak, director of the Center for Politics and Geopolitics at Thailand Future, a Bangkok-based think tank.
“This emerging narrative has, at least for now, eclipsed criticisms of his handling of the floods in Southern Thailand and muted scrutiny over lingering questions of his potential involvement with scam networks,” said Napon, who is also a visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
Purawich Watanasukh, a political scientist as Bangkok’s Thammasat University said that the standing of Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party has slipped in recent weeks due to the southern flood crisis, which took more than 160 lives, and his government’s mishandling of major scam scandals, which tainted some officials and figures in the Thai business community.
“However, the recent clash between Thailand and Cambodia has provided Anutin with an opportunity to reframe himself as a defender of national sovereignty, potentially boosting his popularity, ” Purawich told The Associated Press in an email interview. “Dissolving the House at this moment allows Bhumjaithai to capitalize on this shifting sentiment.
Jintamas reported from Buriram, Thailand.
People prepare breakfast as they take refuge at Wat Chroy Neangoun's Buddhist pagoda in Siem Reap province, Cambodia Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia over territorial claims. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A Thai resident takes shelter in Buriram province, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, following renewed border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
People warm themselves around a bonfire as they take refuge at Wat Chroy Neangoun's Buddhist pagoda in Siem Reap province, Cambodia Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia over territorial claims. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Displaced people arrive to take refuge at Wat Chroy Neangoun's Buddhist pagoda in Siem Reap province, Cambodia Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia over territorial claims. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, center, walks after attending an event at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, right, gestures as he attends an event at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul gestures as he attends an event at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
Thai residents cover in a shelter in Buriram province, Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
FILE - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, right, and Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, left, react during a signing ceremony on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
