Jared Fogle sought out teen sex, child porn

Tim Evans and Mark Alesia | The Indianapolis Star

Show Caption Hide Caption Attorney: Jared Fogle has a medical problem, expects prison time Jared Fogle's lawyer says the former Subway spokesman will accept a plea deal for having sex with underage girls and possessing child pornography. Jeremy Margolis says his client is seeking treatment and amends.

INDIANAPOLIS — Subway's celebrated pitchman, ditched as word leaked that he would be pleading guilty to child-sex and -porn charges, will spend at least five years in prison and pay $1.4 million to his victims after striking a deal with federal prosecutors, according to court documents released Wednesday.

Jared Fogle, 37, of Zionsville, Ind., commissioned the executive director of his charity to produce pornography using at least a dozen underage victims, one as young as 6, the charging documents say. Fogle jetted numerous times to New York City to have sex with at least two underage girls.

“This is about using wealth, status and secrecy to illegally exploit children,” U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler said.

Fogle repeatedly made his travel plans for sex to coincide with his business trips, according to the charging documents.

Fogle first appeared in a Subway ad in 2000 after losing 245 pounds on his famous Subway diet in 1998; he created his nonprofit Jared Foundation to raise awareness about childhood obesity in 2004. And his estimated $15 million net worth accumulated since then is directly attributable to personal appearances and his more than 300 ads for the sandwich-shop franchise, according to celebritynetworth.com.

He married for the second time in 2010. His wife, Katie McLaughlin Fogle, said Wednesday that she is filing for divorce.

"My focus is exclusively on the well-being of my children," she said through her lawyers. She and Jared Fogle have two children together.

Authorities reviewed 47,000 emails and text messages as part of their investigation into Jared Fogle, Minkler said.

In a federal court appearance Wednesday in Indianapolis, Jared Fogle sat with his head down and hands clasped. He nodded affirmatively and spoke softly in response to questions from U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Dinsmore asking whether he understood the charges and proceedings.

He is expected to plead guilty at a later date on one count each of traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and distribution and receipt of child pornography. He has waived his right to appeal.

For now, he is being placed on home detention with GPS monitoring and is not in jail. The date of his next court appearance has not been set, and the government, which said its investigation is ongoing, reserves the right to present additional evidence when Jared Fogle is sentenced.

Prosecutors agreed to seek a sentence no greater than 12½ years though the judge ultimately will decide how much time Jared Fogle will spend in federal prison. Jared Fogle agreed not to seek a sentence of less than five years, and he will have to register as a sex offender when he leaves prison.

In federal cases, prisoners must serve at least 85% of their sentences.

As the explicit revelations unfolded Wednesday, numerous supporters backed away from the slimmed-down celeb who appeared five times in the past five years on The Biggest Loser TV series.

• Subway, which had suspended its relationship with him hours after investigators raided his home July 7 in Indiana, repeated its decision to fire Jared Fogle via Twitter.

"Jared Fogle’s actions are inexcusable and do not represent our brand’s values," the company said via Twitter. "We had already ended our relationship with Jared."

• Jared ​Fogle's family expressed shock and disappointment.

"We are very concerned for the well being of those affected by his conduct," family members said in a statement. He is the son of Dr. Norman and Adrienne Fogle of Indianapolis. "At the same time, we are gratified that Jared is accepting responsibility for what he has done by agreeing to plea guilty to the charges filed today and by volunteering to make restitution to the victims."

Jared Fogle will pay the 14 victims $100,000 each to help with their medical treatment, counseling and education. Four of the victims are now adults in desperate straits, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven DeBrota said.

Jared Fogle repeatedly asked one of the minor victims and other adults who were escort-service employees to "provide him with access to minors as young as 14 years" for sex. To make sure that the escorts weren't cops, he had sex with them and offered a finder's fee if they could provide him with underage prostitutes.

"The younger the girl, the better," he told one of the victims. Jared Fogle said he would "really make it worth her while if she could find one."

Jared Fogle started his solicitation of adult prostitutes in 2007, the charging documents say. And he would arrange these activities during his business trips, both across the USA and in foreign countries.

2007 was the same year Jared Fogle hired Russell C. Taylor of Indianapolis as executive director of the Jared Foundation. The two had met through Taylor's previous work as youth market director for the American Heart Association of Indiana.

Jared Fogel and his first wife, Elizabeth Christie Fogle, divorced in October 2007 after six years of marriage.

At New York's Plaza Hotel, Jared Fogle cavorted with one 17-year-old victim, knowing she was underage and giving her money for sex. Then two months later, he paid for sex with the same teen at the Ritz Carlton and continued to have liaisons with her.

Taylor, now 43, supplied Jared Fogle with homemade child pornography, including victims as young as 6, on multiple occasions between 2011 and this year, the charging documents say.

Then Jared Fogle learned that Taylor was sexually exploiting a 14-year-old girl, Minkler said.

"Mr. Fogle did nothing to stop the abuse or report it to authorities but chose instead to receive and repeatedly view the child pornography involving the girl and ... other minors," Minkler said. "He preyed on minor victims who did not have the ability to protect themselves."

A tip from a woman who contacted Indiana State Police prompted the investigation into Taylor, court records said. The woman said Taylor, among other things, offered to send her images and video of young girls by text messaging.

Jared Fogle apparently chose to continue his behavior after Taylor's arrest April 29 on preliminary child pornography charges.

Jared Fogle fired Taylor soon after Taylor's arrest, saying he was shocked and that the foundation was severing all ties with the colleague who often accompanied him to the charitable events. Taylor attempted suicide a week after his arrest while in custody at the Marion County Jail here and remains in federal custody.

Yet Jared Fogle's charging documents contend he repeatedly traveled to engage in commercial sexual activity until on or about June 23. Jared Fogle's home was raided July 7.

Jared Fogle's lawyer, Jeremy Margolis, said his client is acknowledging responsibility for his wrongdoing and volunteering to pay restitution to help his victims recover.

Margolis said Jared Fogle will be undertaking significant psychiatric treatment and counseling and already has been examined by a world-renowned expert to chart a course for his recovery.

"Jared understands that he has hurt innocent people, vulnerable people, and his family," Margolis said. "He has expressed remorse to me and to his loved ones, and will, when given the opportunity, express that remorse to this court and to the people he has harmed. His intent is to spend the rest of his life making amends.”

Contributing: Kristine Guerra, Vic Ryckaert, Robert King and Tony Cook, The Indianapolis Star; The Associated Press.

Here are the charging documents. Warning: The documents contain explicit material:

Here are the documents in the plea deal:

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