Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was arrested in Florida and faces sex trafficking charges, a spokesman for federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, told CNBC on Tuesday.

Two Jeffries associates, Matthew Smith of West Palm Beach, Florida, and James Jacobson of Wisconsin, also face charges in connection with the case, the spokesman said.

The criminal case comes a year after Abercrombie, Jeffries and Smith were sued in federal court in Manhattan for allegedly turning a blind eye to sexual misconduct by the former CEO.

Jeffries was accused in that federal civil lawsuit of running a sex trafficking ring that exploited young men who hoped to become models for the company.

Jeffries and Smith will make their first appearance in federal court in the Southern District of Florida later Tuesday. Jacobson will be tried in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

All three men will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York, the spokesman said.

Brian Bieber, an attorney for Michael Jeffries, told NBC News in a statement: “We will respond fully to the allegations after the indictment is quashed, and if necessary, we plan to do so in the courthouse – not in the media.” .”

Abercrombie & Fitch declined CNBC's request for comment.

The news broke just hours before federal prosecutors were scheduled to hold a news conference in Brooklyn to announce the arrests of a “former CEO of a major corporation” and two others in a “sex trafficking and interstate prostitution case.”

This presser is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET.

The civil lawsuit previously filed against Abercrombie alleges that the company had already resolved several complaints “related to improper actions by Jeffries or Smith, some of which involved sexual harassment or abuse.”

An amended complaint in the case, filed in September, said that after an investigation in 2023, the BBC found that “Jeffries and Smith are believed to have sexually assaulted over 100 men during Abercrombie events they hosted around the world , sexually exploited.”

Attorney Brittany Henderson of Edwards Henderson, the law firm representing the plaintiff in the class action lawsuit, said in a statement to CNBC: “Today's arrests are monumental for the aspiring male models who were victims of these individuals.”

“Your fight for justice does not end here. “We look forward to holding Abercrombie and Fitch liable for enabling this terrible behavior and ensuring that nothing like this can happen again,” said Henderson.

Jeffries was CEO of Abercrombie from 1992 to 2014. Smith was described in the civil lawsuit as a long-time partner of Jeffries and as “someone with apparent authority who Abercrombie allowed to work extensively for the brand despite not holding an official position within the company.”

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— CNBC's Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed reporting.