Mike Jeffries, former chief executive officer of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., pleaded not guilty to one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution Friday afternoon at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, N.Y.
He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Steven Tiscione for the arraignment, in a filled courtroom that included his son and his wife. Jeffries is now confined to his homes in New York City, Long Island and Florida.
His next trial date is set for Dec. 12.
Jeffries was arrested earlier this week and released on a $10 million bond.
Jeffries, 80, who exited the top job at Abercrombie & Fitch in 2014 after a 22-year run, is accused of having orchestrated a sex trafficking and prostitution enterprise that involved hiring dozens of men and transporting them around the world.
On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. attorney’s office of the Eastern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York Police Department held a press conference detailing the arrests and charges in Brooklyn. James Jacobson, who is alleged to be a middleman, faces the same charges.
Mapping out the indictment, Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of New York, alleged that the sexual trafficking and prostitution enterprise lasted at least from the end of 2008 until early 2015. Jeffries was said to have spent “millions of dollars on a massive infrastructure” to support it and “hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash for commercial sex,” as well as money for travel, hotel rooms and a security company, Peace said.
Fifteen John Does are named in the indictment that was revealed during Tuesday’s press conference.
