At a news conference in New York, Breon Peace, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Jeffries used his "power, his wealth and his influence, to traffic men for his own sexual pleasure and that of his romantic partner, Matthew Smith". Mr Peace said the indictment alleged Jeffries and Smith employed Jacobson "to act as a recruiter to find men". Jacobson would engage in "try outs with men across the world where he would typically pay them to engage in sex acts with him".