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Disgraced Subway Pitchman Jared Fogle Was Sentenced to 15 Years on Child Sex Charges

The onetime sandwich mascot admitted to being attracted to children as young as eight.

Jared Fogle at the federal courthouse in Indianapolis. AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Update: Jared Fogle has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. This post has been updated throughout.

On Thursday in an Indianapolis courtroom, disgraced former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle pleaded guilty to charges of child pornography and sex with minors. Prosecutors asked for a sentence between five to 12 and a half years, in accordance with a plea deal reached back in August, but the judge sentenced Fogle to 15 years.

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The government says Fogle has admitted to being attracted to children as young as eight, and the 38-year-old agreed in court to "avoid pornography, get sexual disorder treatment and will be a registered sex offender," Reuters reported. Fogle has already begun paying restitution to 14 victims.

According to the government, Fogle's friend and business partner Russell Taylor, who ran Fogle's nonprofit Jared Foundation, often lured unsuspecting children to his nondescript home in the Indianapolis suburbs and, using hidden cameras, took pictures and video of them during private moments in the bathroom. Taylor did this with Fogle's knowledge and encouragement, often passing him the lurid pics and vids, according to court documents.

Last week, a 16-year-old identified only as Annalissa appeared on Dr. Phil and became the first victim to speak out about being caught in Taylor and Fogle's depraved web. She was one of at least 12 girls Taylor allegedly taped and passed onto Fogle. "He took my happiness. He took my trust. He took my pride," Annalissa told Dr. Phil of the ordeal, which happened when she was 14. "Everything."

On the same day Annalissa went public, Fogle's lawyers asked for leniency for their client in a memorandum to the federal court in Indianapolis. Fogle is "profoundly sorry," the attorneys wrote in the pre-sentencing memo to the court last week.

Thursday's sentencing hearing, which was live-blogged by the Indianapolis Star, included testimony for the defense by forensic psychiatrist John Bradford of the University of Ottawa. He says his evaluation of Fogle "included a blood test for 'hormones responsible for sexual drives,' a list of questions and a test measuring 'sexual interest.'" Bradford said Fogle also provided a "very extensive history of how this happened and, in his words, what kind of problem it was."

"He started to view pornography in college (at Indiana University) and had an extensive collection of pornography," Bradford added.

In their memo preceding Thursday's hearing, Fogle's attorneys wrote he would be addressing the court in person today, and that Fogle "is painfully aware of the fact that he has impacted the lives of minor victims, hurt those closest to him, and, for all practical purposes, destroyed the life he worked to build over the last 18 years." The memo also said Fogle has been addressing his "medical issues" since the July search of his home, and is "fully committed" to putting in the work it'll take to become a productive member of society, NBC News reported.

But prosecutors have their doubts, writing in their own memo to the court that the facts in the case "provide a window to Fogle's history and character" and that he "has sacrificed absolutely everything" in his drive to engage in sex with minors.

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