Briton Matthew Smith, the partner of former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries, leaves court in Central Islip, New York on December 3, 2024
The partner of the ex-CEO of the Abercrombie and Fitch clothing line pleaded
not guilty Tuesday in US federal court to charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution and was released on $10 million bond.
Briton Matthew Smith, the ex-CEO Mike Jeffries and their fixer James Jacobson allegedly used a "casting couch"
ploy to groom aspiring male models to attend sex parties at which
victims were plied with alcohol and drugs.
After his arrest in October in Florida with Jeffries, Smith was held in custody in New York.
Smith appeared in court Tuesday in Central Islip on Long Island, to the east of New York City.
Smith pleaded not guilty and was released on a $10 million bond put up by Jeffries and his family, said a statement from the US attorney's office
for the eastern district of New York.
An AFP photographer saw Smith leave the courthouse
with what appeared to be a large electronic surveillance
bracelet attached to his ankle.
Le Britannique Matthew Smith, compagnon de l'ancien patron de l'enseigne américaine
de mode Abercrombie & Fitch, Michael Jeffries, sort du tribunal fédéral de l'est de l'Etat de New York, à Central Islip, le 3 décembre 2024,
après avoir plaidé non coupable de trafic
sexuel et proxénétisme
Another hearing is scheduled for December 10 for
Smith, Jeffries and Jacobson.
Jeffries, 80, was released on a $10 million bond in late October.
Jeffries, who served as CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch from
1992 to 2014, is accused of creating and maintaining a ring that recruited young men to have sex
with him and Smith.
Prosecutors allege that between December 2008 and March 2015 Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson used a combination of "force, fraud and coercion" to traffic men in a sprawling prostitution enterprise.
Charging documents detail 15 anonymous victims, but prosecutors suggest the scale was probably much larger and have appealed for witnesses and victims to
come forward.
Prosecutors say young men were taken to the New York home of
Jeffries and Smith and to hotels in Britain,
France, Italy, Morocco to have sex with them.
Jeffries faces the prospect of life in prison if convicted.
Jacobson also pleaded not guilty to the same charges as the other defendants and was released on half a million dollars bond in October.
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