Jared Fogle, “The Subway Guy,” has pled guilty to charges that he paid for sex with girls as young as 16 and also received child pornography. Fogle was arrested in July at his Zionsville, Indiana home as part of an FBI raid on the premises.
According to Virginia federal criminal lawyer Steve Duckett, “sex with a minor and child pornography are very serious charges that carry maximum federal sentences of 30 and 20 years, respectively.”
As part of the plea, the government agreed not to seek a sentence greater than 12.5 years.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven DeBrota said that Fogle sought out child prostitutes during numerous trips to New York City for Subway and the Jared Foundation, his charity. Court documents detail how Fogle paid for sex at hotels with two underage girls. Fogle later texted one of these girls, who was 16 at the time, and asked if she could connect him with other girls. He allegedly stated “that he would accept a 16-year-old, while stating that the younger the girl, the better.”
In addition to his involvement with child prostitutes, Fogle is charged with receiving child pornography. These explicit images and videos were produced by Russell Taylor, the director of Fogle’s Jared Foundation. Taylor, who was arrested two months before Fogle, secretly filmed the children in his home. According to court documents, Fogle knew that these children were underage and, in some cases, knew them personally through various social events.
Fogle will pay over a million dollars in restitution to 14 victims. His defense attorney told reporters that Fogle “knows that restitution can’t undo the damage that he’s done, but he will do all in his power to try to make it right.”
Indianapolis Police Chief Rick Hite, who oversaw the raid on Fogle’s house, said “We’re dealing with a celebrity who had the access, power, and resources to do anything he wanted to do in the world but he chose to utilize that to cajole, convince, and even take advantage of children.”
