Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO pleads not guilty to sex trafficking and prostitution charges

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

Michael Jeffries, 80, declined to comment after entering the plea in federal court in Central Islip, on Long Island. He has been released on a $10 million bond and is due back in court on December 12.

Prosecutors allege that Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man, 71-year-old James Jacobson, for years enticed men to participate in sex parties by sidestepping the promise of modeling work for the clothing retailer once famous for its preppy clothing. to shove. -American aesthetics and marketing with shirtless male models.

Jacobson, who was an associate of Jeffries when prosecutors say the crimes occurred, also pleaded not guilty and declined to speak to reporters afterward.

In the indictment announced earlier this week, prosecutors say 15 plaintiffs were induced by “force, fraud and coercion” to participate in drug-fueled sex parties where the men were sometimes told to wear costumes, use sex toys and have a painful erection. undergo. inducing penile injections.

The events took place between 2008 and 2015 in the Hamptons, the wealthy summer resort on Long Island where Jeffries has a home, as well as in hotels in England, France, Italy, Morocco and St. Barts, the indictment said.

The allegations echo allegations of sexual misconduct detailed in media reports and made in a civil case against Jeffries, who left Abercrombie in 2014 after leading the company for more than two decades.

Jeffries was released on bail after appearing in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday. His bond is guaranteed by a property he and his wife own on expensive Fisher Island, near Miami.